


Cross Time Caper

by Rubyea



Category: Excalibur (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Noir, Bodice-Ripper, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Light BDSM, Mistaken Identity, More tags as chapters are uploaded, Multi, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubyea/pseuds/Rubyea
Summary: X-men collide with X-men again and again in search of Earth 616. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rachel Summer/Grey (Prestige), find themselves constantly confronted with alternate versions of themselves and their family, struggling to navigate the nature of their relationships and how one small change can make a world of difference.
Relationships: Emma Frost/Kurt Wagner, Jean Grey/Scott Summers, Kitty Pryde/Kurt Wagner, and more! - Relationship
Comments: 191
Kudos: 19





	1. Another World Close To Ours

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during the Cross Time Caper in Excalibur. If you haven’t read Excalibur, you don’t have to. Basically Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rachel Summers as the Phoenix, Captain Britian, and Meggan are all trapped together on a train that is flitting through alternate realities as though they were stops on some unpleasant ride. The whole thing is powered by Widget, who looks like a metal volleyball with eyes and acts like a puppy that eats metal. Our heroes are taken across many worlds, and find themselves lost across realities. However, they stick together and eventually find their way home (some quicker than others.) This story takes place during that Excalibur story (right near the beginning), and a couple other moments in X-men history, including the most recent Marauders run on Krakoa. 
> 
> Every character is of an appropriate age for what happens, and as MHammerman always says, my superheroes always practice safe and consensual sex. 
> 
> Also for some readers who I know are far more familiar with Excalibur than I, some timeline things may be a little off kilter simply because I’m not remembering precisely, and for that I apologize. I hope you still enjoy.

The Cross Time Caper, as Brian had joked once in that British way he liked to do so (which was rarely), was not that much fun. Sure, adventures were to be had, damsels saved from distress, some very revealing outfits to be worn, planets saved, so on and so forth. But the day to day living of constantly being shunted from planet to planet was disorienting and uncomfortable at times. People had limits, those limits were constantly exposed when the team was stuck together on the train for extended periods. The lighthouse was small, sure, but the lighthouse had something that the train they were stuck on didn’t: the option to walk away and go outside. Going from world to world with no information, no context, was showing each Excalibur teammate a little too much about their friends, and honestly, a break was needed.

That break came in the form of silence. Sudden deep, quiet silence, the absence of noise which sent Kitty rocketing up from her seat, dislodging Rachel and Widget both who had fallen asleep on her. She carefully stepped over Kurt, who was sleeping on the floor by her feet for some reason, to press her hands on the train’s window.

They were somewhere new, that was certain, but where was unclear.

It looked like a garden, one filled with flowers growing over trellises, carefully arranged rows of vegetables with child-like writing delineating what grew where, and a couple of benches that were sitting mangled, up against and under the train where it had noiselessly crashed through. A woman stood in the middle of the beautiful garden, mouth agape. She wore pristine white overalls, one button artfully undone, the front folded over white gloves in the pocket. Her white hat blocked sunlight from revealing her face, but something about her felt familiar.

Behind her another woman ran closer, emerging from a doorway in the vine covered brick wall, to stop unceremoniously in front of the woman in white. This person looked exactly like Ororo. She wore her hair back in braids, which cascaded down her shoulders to her elbows. Her clothes were loose, but colorful, and she wore green gardening knee pads. She threw down the trowel in her hand and stepped closer to the train, her words lost behind the glass of the window.

Kitty placed her hand on the glass, then startled and pulled it back when she met eyes with Ororo. Ororo’s lips clearly made the shape of Kitty’s name, and she looked frantically side to side to find a door. Behind her, the woman in white removed her hat to show her blonde hair and blue eyes. Emma Frost turned to the side and shouted something, the words once more lost behind the glass.

“What the hell?” Rachel had clearly woken up and stepped over Kurt, who was groggily mumbling to himself, still on the floor. “This is definitely not our universe.”

“Yeah,” Kitty said, “that looks like Emma Frost but the Emma Frost I know would never be seen getting her hands dirty.”

“You know better than I,” Rachel huffed a laugh. “Kurt, are you up? Looks like we’ve arrived somewhere interesting.”

Kurt got his knees under him, and managed to push himself upright, still feeling tired and sore. He popped his back by arching himself backwards, nearly touching his nose to the floor once again. Kitty could only laugh at the sight – she could see his hairy bellybutton as he bent. As he got further back, the front of his pants began to fall slightly, showing the beginning of a darker patch of hair. Kitty quickly looked away, suddenly embarrassed but not sure why. She didn’t have a lot of time to think about it as her eyes caught sight of the Ororo outside, who had found the door.

Before Ororo could knock, Kitty flung herself away from Kurt’s exposed stomach and towards the door to yank it open. Ororo stood there, one hand up in a fist, paused in midair, mouth agape. “Kitten?”

“Ororo!” Kitty threw her arms around her friend, “I can’t believe it. It’s so nice to see you, I love the changes you guys have made.” She released her friend, her hands still on her shoulders while she looked into Ororo’s shockingly blue eyes.

“Kitten, it is such a pleasure to be greeted in this way!” Ororo’s eyes crinkled with her laughter. She craned to look past Kitty into the train car, where the rest of Excalibur were collecting themselves. “I swear I just saw you in the kitchen… oh, hello.” She had caught sight of Meggan and Brian, and the confusion on her face grew as her eyes flicked from person to person.

“Ororo?” Kitty and Ororo both turned towards the speaker, her voice coming from the garden near where Emma Frost had been standing. It was strange, the voice felt so familiar but in a way Kitty couldn’t place. Until she saw the speaker. It was herself, standing next to Emma Frost, her hand shading her eyes in the sunlight.

Ororo backed down out of the doorway, and Kitty followed her. So it wasn’t their home universe. Her home universe had one version of herself in it, and she was it. To see herself standing there in the garden felt equal parts exciting and disappointing. Exciting in that she didn’t realize quite how cool it felt to have a doppelganger, but disappointing in that they still were not home. What she would give to be in her own bed, surrounded by her own things, working on her own computer programs.

“This is completely unexpected, and you’ve absolutely ruined the most beautiful part of the garden which I had worked my fingers down to the very bone to have the children create!” Kitty tore her eyes away from her doppelganger to look over at the alternate Emma. She had closed her mouth from gawping at the train, and had placed her hands on her hips. “This simply will not do. Ororo, Katherine, I am informing the others to have this mess cleaned up.” She turned on her heel and walked through the doorway behind her, muttering “the children worked so hard on it, too.”

The Alternate Kitty’s jaw worked soundlessly while she tried to figure out something to say. She shrugged at the Alternate Ororo before saying “I’m sure we can figure this out. Why don’t we… oh… oh, hello.”

Kitty looked behind her to see Rachel and Kurt emerge from the train, followed closely by the rest of the team. Alternate Kitty breezed past Kitty and Alternate Ororo to extend her hand to Kurt, who met her with a wide grin. He caught her fingers in his palm and bowed as he playfully kissed the back of her hand.

“We are blessed! Yet another Kätzchen.“ Kurt laughed so easily, and the only clue of his unease with the situation could be seen in the nervous flicker of his tail. Kitty knew him well enough to know it was a show - one that was working, judging by the blush creeping up Alternate Kitty’s neck.

She cleared her throat loudly. Alternate Kitty spun around again to face her, and smoothed down the hair in her ponytail. “Like I was saying, I’m sure we can figure this out. Why don’t we all come inside? Have you guys eaten yet?”

Kitty could see Lockheed’s snout poke out of the doorway, chuff, then disappear again within the train’s confines. He could stay there all he wanted, Kitty was feeling a bit peckish. Mostly tired though. She followed Alternate Kitty and Ororo thought the doorway Alternate Emma had just used with barely a backward glance at her team following.

“Well, uh, while we figure out how to get your train moving again, we’ll make you comfortable. The Institute is a little less full over the summer, so we have plenty of rooms.” The Alternate Kitty smiled over her shoulder as she led them down the halls. “A lot of students go back home to be with their parents, or get summer jobs in Salem Center, so the days are a little less hectic.”

“That’s… that’s so normal.” Kitty ran her fingers through her unruly curls. The Alternate Kitty had pulled hers back into a ponytail, whisps of chocolate hair escaping at random. “So the school runs only in winter? Like.. a regular school?”

“Well, yes.” Alternate Kitty looked at Kitty quizzically. “We’re just a school. The teachers like myself live here twenty-four-seven, but otherwise even our residential students go home occasionally.” She smiled at Kitty.

It was hard to think of Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters as ‘just a school.’ It had been everything to her when she was there, anything less felt inconceivable. She had only left for Excalibur with Rachel and Kurt when she thought she had lost everything. And to think, at this just-a-school, she herself was a teacher, not a student.

“Do you not occasionally save the world?” Meggan inquired politely. Both Alternate Kitty and Alternate Ororo laughed.

“Yes, sweet child, we do occasionally.” Ororo’s merry laugh added a humble note to her assertion. “When the X-men are called to help out our fellows, we certainly rise to the task.”

“Here,” Alternate Kitty stopped them in their path to a doorway, open and inviting. “This is an empty dorm, there are rooms enough for each but a shared common space for you all to relax in while we try to figure out the train thing.”

Alternate Ororo poked her head in, then walked in. The center of the room was dominated by a huge red couch, sitting over a deep shag carpet. An armchair flanked it on each side, and along the walls were four more doorways. Behind the couch sat a large wooden table with gold lamps. It really did look like a dorm, but something Kitty could have sworn she saw out of a movie about some Ivy League university. It was so inviting, she could picture herself snuggled up on that couch with her favorite book in hand, finally, finally relaxing.

Something about this world took the edge away. The lure of sitting, feeling safe within these walls was too much. She noticed a blanket folded over the back of the couch and all sounds faded behind her. Whatever Alternate Kitty and Ororo were discussing with her Meggan, Kurt, Rachel, and Brian, was of no consequence anymore. She drifted towards the couch without realizing she was doing so, and had managed to sit herself on it and kick off her shoes before the voices in the background filtered into her consciousness.

It was Alternate Kitty, laughing. It felt strange to see herself laugh, and she could only manage a glance before her eyes slid away. “I totally understand how you feel, sometimes it’s just so nice to sit for a while.” Alternate Kitty chuckled again and shook her head. “Especially these days. If you want, uh, Kitty, you are welcome to stay here while Ororo and I finish the tour. Feel free to rest, seems like you all deserve it.”

Kitty just nodded. The strangeness from being in a world so like her own but off just, just so, was disconcerting to the point of exhaustion. Her attention was off of her team as they moved away from the doorway, a shelf on a bookcase across the room swam into view. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Alternate Ororo shift in the doorway, one hand on the doorjam, looking back at her.

“Kitten, are you well?” Alternate Ororo’s voice was just as soft as her counterpart.

Kitty’s eyes flicked over to her. She smiled softly, tiredly, then looked into her hands tucked into her lap. “Yes, just tired. Ready for some rest.”

Ororo moved back into the room and plucked a book from the shelf Kitty had lost herself in. “This was a book that Charles gave me when I first arrived here, feeling tired and lost, unsure of myself.” She came closer to Kitty and sat on the couch next to her. The other’s voices had moved down the hall, continuing on their tour. “I felt so out of place, everything was so unfamiliar and yet I wanted so badly for it to be familiar.”

Kitty looked over at Alternate Ororo. She was so familiar, those blue eyes in that kind face, her white hair tucked back into box braids behind a black headband. It was hard to imagine any version of Ororo feeling out of place anywhere.

“I want you to have it. Maybe it will give you comfort as it did I.” Ororo’s smile was the same across worlds, the kindness within her shining through a simple quirk to her lips. She placed a book in Kitty’s lax hands, and with a squeeze to her shoulder, Ororo breezed out of the room leaving Kitty to her thoughts.

Kitty’s eyes slowly focused on the book. Reading the title, her eyes squeezed shut and she could only laugh. Of course.

‘Henrietta’s Adventures in Amazementworld,’ had the traditional Alice in the blue dress following a white animal in a waistcoat with a pocket watch, but this Alice – Henrietta – had curly brown hair like Kitty’s own. Kitty could see Ororo’s interest in it, Henrietta was not the white girl her own universe’s Alice was, but a pretty young brown girl, her white socks peeking out from the baby blue dress she wore.

She opened the book and the first illustration was one of Henrietta reading a slim volume in a windowsill, the weather behind her dark and foreboding but the fireside in front of her cozy and warm looking. Kitty did feel better with the book in her hands. She felt just as out of place as Alice herself, who would yet still be out of place in Henrietta’s world. It was understandable then, to feel some discomfort when in such a new place. If Alice struggled, then it was understandable she would too.

Flipping through the illustrations she could see that Henrietta made friends throughout her adventures. The white rat with the pocket watch stayed with her in her meeting the King of Spades. Kitty could appreciate the sentiment, her friends certainly helped ease the situation. When she wasn’t tired of being stuck with them.

That was unfair. She was tired of being around Brian, really. Rachel was her best gal-pal, and Meggan was… Meggan. Kurt was her best friend, hands down. He was there for her whenever she needed him, his solid presence always comforting.

“Kätzchen?“ He really had a sixth sense for when she was feeling needy for a little comfort. Kitty felt so thankful for him, suddenly. He was peering around the door frame, smiling at her. His smile lit up his face. She knew that he had different smiles for each person on the team, a playful one for Rachel, a soft one for Meggan, just about none for Brian, but the one she usually saw pointed in her way always made her feel good. As Kurt walked into the room she was in, his smile grew slightly confused, although it didn’t diminish. “What are you doing in here?”

“Oh, I decided to stay and rest a bit while everyone kept going. I’m just tired. Look at the book Ororo gave me, isn’t this hilarious?” She handed him the volume as he sat next to her.

He took it slowly and opened it, scanning the pages. “It looks so different in Englisch. I don’t remember it very well, honestly.” He handed it back to her. “I didn’t know it was a story you liked.”

“Usually I’m not super into fantasy books,” she crinkled her nose at him. Despite having her own personal pet dragon, her love of sci-fi was well known.

“Ah so, and what a shame!” He laughed, leaning in a bit closer. “With fantasy, anything is possible! When I was a boy I named my swords after my favorite characters, and Stefan and I would play sword fight all the time.” He shook his head ruefully, “it was Stefan’s idea that I take the third sword with my tail, he was full of good ideas like that.”

Kitty also laughed. It felt good, just the two of them, while everyone else was on the tour. She wasn’t sure why Kurt had come back early, but it felt good to sit with him. She hadn’t realized, but this was just what she had been needing, some time alone with her best friend.

He must have caught her happy sigh, as he tucked his arm around her and pressed his nose into her hair. “Feel’s good to take a moment off your feet, ja? Seems like you’re always up and about making things easier for other people. It’s your turn now.”

“Yeah, I… thanks,” Kitty felt a little flustered. Kurt’s usual showing of support wasn’t so physical, he certainly would hug her, or pat her back or touch her arm, but never sustained. Kurt was always the gentleman about physical affection, but had seemed to hold back after everything with Meggan had played out. Maybe he was feeling more confident again, or just somehow knew what Kitty needed, like he had known to come back into their temporary room. The signs of affection were doing their part to put her further at ease, his warmth doing wonders for her soul. His thumb gently rubbed her shoulder, and she could feel his slow breathing against her side. 

“Although why here begs the question,” he squeezed her shoulders with affection. “How are you feeling? You know what they say, you have to take time to adjust to all these changes.”

“Uhm, yeah,” she looked up at his face smiling down at her. She hadn’t really noticed before the dimple in his smile or how high his cheekbones seemed to be. A sudden thought occurred to her… she hadn’t really noticed how handsome Kurt was before. To be fair, she hadn’t really ever been this close to his face before either. He was her friend, and she had spent so many hours looking at his face, his strong arms and hands, keeping his team safe. She’d seen him laughing and joking, or serious when they would plan together how to save the world. He carried so much on his wide shoulders, but it was hard to tell that at times with how he constantly smiled. Well, she realized, he constantly smiled at her.

Her brain felt like it was going a mile a minute, realizing belatedly all the times she had seen him before he had noticed her, and the smile that blossomed when he had. She’d seen him joking with Rachel on many an occasion, then throw his arms open to hug her when she arrived. He never threw his arms around Rachel. Although, to be fair, she didn’t either. Rachel no longer wore her spiked Hound outfit, but something about the way she carried herself denoted a bit of spike regardless of what she was wearing.

“Are you sure you’re doing well?” Kurt cocked his head to the side.

“Yeah, I am.” Kitty pushed down the thoughts. “I’m just tired. Too many changes, you’re right. Nothing really feels familiar right now. I’m glad I got stuck with you,” she teased.

Right on cue he barked out a laugh. “Stuck with! Stuck with?? You chose this, don’t forget.” Laughing and shaking his head he disentangled his arm from around her. A barb of disappointment shot through Kitty, but she strangled it before it grew into something she would need to acknowledge. His hand fell just above her knee, and he pulled her leg up closer. “Hand me your foot, I know just what will help. Stuck with…” his head shaking he let out a happy laugh. She had chosen the superhero lifestyle, it was true. She supposed unknown jaunts through space time were just part and parcel of that.

Not quite knowing what to anticipate, she allowed him to grasp a foot and start kneading. She forgot sometimes quite how strong he was, silly as that was, since she knew he’d been an acrobat for a long time before joining the X-men. Even missing two fingers, his hands were skillful, one hand massaging her arch, and the other steadying her ankle. One finger had inadvertently started stroking the inside of her calf as he held her steady, just north of where her ankle bone jutted out. She could feel her own heat rising.

He accidentally popped her pinky toe and she gasped. Kurt’s eyebrows shot up and he looked at her. A slow smile spread again across his face. “Seems like you really needed this. Hand me your other foot.”

Kitty wordlessly leaned back a bit on the couch to maneuver her other foot into his capable hands. As he massaged her, she allowed herself to sink into the arm of the couch until she was nearly laying down. Her curls fanned over the back of the couch as her eyes drifted shut. It felt so good, she had simply had no idea. She’d never had a foot massage, ever. She hadn’t thought that something so simple would help her relax so much. All thought of how they had been racing through different universes, never knowing if they stood on friendly ground or not dissipated under his caresses. She sighed deeply, very comfortable and at ease.

Kitty could hear Kurt cluck under his breath at her as he massaged her feet and ankles. She felt ready to sleep, more comfortable than she had been in a long time. It was so pleasant to be here with Kurt, no words were needed. Anyone else it may have been weird, this moment, but he was just so at ease, relaxed, that she couldn’t help but feel comfortable.

Kurt seemed to sense she needed some sleep, as he gently let go of her feet and laid her legs across his lap. She felt his hand brush her knee, then his hips shift further back into the couch to give her more room to lay out. Distantly, at the edge of her consciousness, she felt him lean in next to her, slide his hand under her neck. His warmth next to her became yet more noticeable, and he placed his free hand on her stomach, just under her bellybutton. His thumb stroked her belly as she opened her eyes again to see his face much closer to her own.

It was unexpected, but not unpleasant. Maybe this was just the German way to help someone relax? No, that was ridiculous. He was coming on to her.

“Now tell me truthfully,” his face had dipped to nuzzle her neck so that he couldn’t see her wide-eyed reaction to his physical affections. “How are you both, really?” The kiss on her cheek was chaste enough, but feeling his long lean body pressed against hers made her head swim. He was soft, pliant against her, but hard and sleek underneath. His breath at her neck made her hair shift, becoming ticklish.

His words sluggishly caught up to her. “Both?”

“Oh my god!”

Kurt bolted upright, looking towards the doorway. Alternate Kitty stood there by herself, hands over her mouth, guffawing. Kurt’s head twisted in between the Kitty under him and the one in the doorway, confusion clear on his face.

“Was im Himmel?” Kurt backed off of Kitty further, taking himself to the opposite end of the couch as she could only lie there with her palms up innocently. She felt stupefied.

“Kurt, I am so, so sorry,” Alternate Kitty was gulping back laughter. “That noise in the garden, did you not hear it? I can’t believe, I was trying to call you, but you didn’t answer. There was a breach, alternate versions of ourselves came through, Ororo and I were just getting them settled. I thought you knew!”

Kitty burned under Alternate Kurt’s stare. Her whole body felt hot and uncomfortable.

“Was? Alternate, huh? I thought…” Alternate Kurt again looked between the two Kittys. He glanced back at Kitty as he threw his leg over the arm of the couch and hoisted himself off of it and away from her. “Entschuldigung. I am so sorry, I am so, so sorry.”

Kitty could only mumble “’s ok,” and ran her fingers through her hair so that it shielded her face.

“Me too,” Alternate Kitty reached for her, but she sat up and pulled her hands out of the way. “I didn’t know he didn’t know.”

“It’s ok,” Kitty said in a slightly stronger voice. “I didn’t realize he wasn’t my Kurt either.”

At that she picked up the blanket that had been dislodged in her accidental cuddling with Alternate Kurt, and fled behind one of the doors behind her. She shut it, pressed her back against it and slid to the floor, her head in her hands. Faintly she could hear both Alternate Kitty and Alternate Kurt speaking in the background.

“-who she was.”

“I know, darling, it was my fault. I thought you knew.”

“I just saw you, her, sitting there, looking so alone. I couldn’t bear to see you like that.”

“I know, really. That’s something I love about you.”

“Und Ich liebe dich.”

There was a moment of silence, Kitty could only imagine it as Alternate Kurt kissed her alternate self, his soft lips pressed against her own. Tears leaked from her eyes, she wasn’t sure why. The tears ramped up, trickling between the fingers clamped over her eyes. Sobbing, Kitty flung herself onto the twin bed in the room and buried her face in the pillow.

Too much had happened, too much to think about. Kitty let herself sob and fell asleep on her stomach, the ghost of Kurt’s touch lingering on her.


	2. Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches

It could have been minutes or even hours later when she heard soft knocking at her door. The tears had dried up, the sniffling had stopped, but her heart still felt heavy. Kitty couldn’t quite put her finger on why it felt so bad. It was a simple misunderstanding, right? Kurt thought she was someone she wasn’t. No, that wasn’t right. Alternate Kurt. Different Kurt. Not her Kurt.

But that would denote that there was a Kurt that was hers. God, her head hurt. He was just a friend, right? A friend who’s hard body was just pressed against her side, moving his hands up her stomach, inching ever north just moments ago. Hours ago. No,no. Alternate friend. Other Kurt, different warmth pressed against her, a strange hot breath in her ear.

Did she want that? Kitty had a distinct memory of standing in that small lighthouse kitchen with Kurt – her Kurt – right after they had moved out there. Everything felt so fresh and new and lonely back then. She and Kurt had only recently been cleared to leave the infirmary, let alone Muir Island, and everything felt like she was trying to swim upstream by herself, painful and cold. In the memory, Kurt had his back to her, looking at the sun rising over the water. Red, pink, and orange light filtered through the window, outlining his usual deep blue in a glowing halo. In her memory, the moment was prolonged as she took in the expanse of his back, his muscles shifting under his cotton shirt as he turned in slow motion to her as she came closer. His smile grew and his arm reached up to circle her shoulders. The memory slowed even more, each sensation becoming larger. The dust motes in the air, the way his cheek dimpled in his trademark ear to ear smile. The weight of his arm as he held her, looking out over the water. She wished she had put her arm around him, but she hadn’t. She’d stood there like a board feeling lost until he squeezed her shoulders once more and asked her if she wanted eggs for breakfast. It was domestic, familiar, and suddenly homey rather than strange. He had that effect on her.

Maybe that’s all it was. He was just familiar. Something comforting, like a blanket. It must have just been all the weirdness in seeing him in a different role, that’s it. It’s a different universe, things are different here, and her own world – with its own roles – were safe and intact. Kitty wiped her nose on the back of her hand, knowing that she was deluding herself, but feeling comforted none the less. She shifted the thought out of her mind, feeling like she could use a distraction. The soft knocking had continued as she got lost in her thoughts, and she took a breath and fixed a smile on her face as she went to open it.

“Kätzchen, can you believe this? I just saw-“ Kurt’s smile faltered as her face came into view. Her eyes were ringed in red, and her hair was slightly askew. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, why?” Kitty was determined to not cry in front of him.

Kurt didn’t answer, just looked at her. He brought a hand up and brushed her hair off her shoulder, she knew where to look to see the gold in his eyes flick from her collarbone to her face. “Something is up,” it wasn’t a question, but he said it with kindness. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

Kitty struggled to keep her eyes from watering. She could feel her eyebrows knit in concentration to not cry. Opening her mouth to assure him once again, her breath hitched and she clenched her jaw. His hand was softly resting on her shoulder, he just shook his head and pulled her in for a hug. “We don’t have to talk,” he said into her auburn curls, “but I am here for you.”

His face was once again lodged into her neck, his arms once again around her, and it was a shock to the system how right it felt. All of what she had just told herself crumbled in his embrace, and she moved her arms up to hold him back. In her memory of the sunrise in the kitchen, he squeezed her, and told her of the chickens he raised as a kid as he made her breakfast. In the present, he squeezed her, and said “I know this is disconcerting, but we have each other. I have some good news,” he released her so that he could look into her watery eyes. “The Hank here sorted out the propulsion on the train! He was telling us about how the different universes touch, something like how cloth is folded and the train is a needle punching through the folds, I honestly wasn’t catching a lot of it. He was pretty excited, he said he may have figured out how to get us back to our universe.”

Kurt had kept one hand on her arm as he had released her, and had begun pulling her along the corridor. Kitty managed to snag the book Alternate Ororo had given her, and couldn’t help but get dragged into Kurt’s infectious good mood. She knew he was putting it on for her, but it felt good to let herself fall into his friendly orbit.

He continued to prattle on about what the Alternate Hank had described, she understood some of what Kurt had been told, but found it hilarious he kept using the term “yarn theory” when talking about running into their alternative selves. “Because, you know, we’re, the worlds are all knit together. Attached. Is that not what it’s called?”

“I think at home we call it String Theory,” Kitty wiped away the last of her tears with a grin on her face. A genuine one this time.

They were taking a winding route farther into the school as Kurt continued. Apparently Alternate Hank had sat him and Brian down and really broken it down for the two of them, since there were no known analogues of Brian in this particular universe. Kitty couldn’t help but laugh at Kurt’s description of Meggan picking up every item in the lab, turning it over to look or sniff at, while Alternate Hank followed her around to put things back as he continued the lecture. Kurt’s usually animated face was just about sparkling with mirth, his tail kept brushing her as she walked beside him. Kitty listened to him chuckle his way through the story as she sunk back into her feelings.

His smile could light up a room, and his twin shared that same smile. Not only that but the special smile he reserved for her was also shared by the twin here. What did that mean? Clearly the relationship between her alternative self and his alternative self was of a… slightly different nature than the one she shared with her Kurt. If the relationship was different, why was the smile the same? What did that say about either one of them? She huffed a small discontented breath.

“I know, I know, why talk about any of this?” Kurt hadn’t realized her attention had focused inward, “Hank may have figured out how to get home. His description of the fabric and us as the needle made it seem like we had a couple of jaunts before we would get home, but to make sure they’re short jaunts, as a long one might take us so far from our… hmm, collection of universes? Universi? Was ist das Wort… We may go so far as to not have other versions of ourselves, and the fact we’re meeting ourselves is actually a good sign.”

“Mmm…” Kitty’s eyes swept back over to Kurt as she processed what he’d just said. “Why do you call him Hank? He’s not… he’s not the Hank we know.”

Kurt just smiled. “Why do you say that? He is our friend.”

Kitty stopped in her tracks and pulled Kurt’s arm so he did as well. “But he’s not our friend.”

Kurt just looked at her, visibly confused.

“I mean to say… he looks like our friend, and you make it seem like he sounds like our friend, but he is not… he’s not the same man.”

“Nein, but he is. He’s not exactly the same Hank who we know, but his soul is here, his love for us is the same here. He is our friend.”

Kitty searched Kurt’s face for any hint of any other thoughts he wasn’t saying. Kurt’s face was always expressive, but often hard to read. He was smiling at her, and as always, seemed so sincere, but so had his Alternate self. How could he say they were the same? The way Alternate Kurt had touched her… the sparks she felt travel up her skin… Just thinking about it made her fingers tingle, wanting to run them through his short hair. Was that love that made this Hank the same as their Hank shared by Kurt and the version of him that lived here? Did that mean that the Kurt that Kitty was standing in front of, her Kurt, wanted to touch her as his Alternative self did?

“Clearly something is on your mind, Kätzchen.“ Kurt had stopped smiling and was looking at her earnestly and seriously.

“Have you spoken to your… self… here yet?”

“Nein,” Kurt placed his arm around her shoulder to once again steer her towards Alternate Hank’s lab. “He’s been busy, I hear, saving the world and all that. Every time I catch sight of him he’s on his way somewhere else.”

Now that was typical for Kurt. If he didn’t want to talk about something he’d just find some polite excuse and you wouldn’t realize he’d dodged your questions until days later when you still didn’t have an answer. He was so good at it apparently he could even fool himself. Kitty scoffed.

In the lab, Hank was still catching things that Meggan was inadvertently knocking over. His face lit up when both Kitty and Kurt walked in, smiling broadly he deposited the various equipment collected in his large hands and walked nearer to Kitty. “Why, what a delight! I understand you must recognize me from your universe, as I certainly do from your analogue here!” Alternate Hank vigorously shook Kitty’s proffered hand, nearly taking her off her feet.

“Yes, er, thank you,” she delicately rubbed her nearly crushed fingers when he released them. She caught a look from Rachel, who barely hid a smirk. Their Hank wasn’t quite so… enthusiastic, but it was a pleasant enough countenance. He looked nearly identical, but here his normally long blue hair had been buzzed so close to his scalp that the longest hair on his face was his sharp bushy eyebrows.

“Where have you been, Kitty?” Brian gathered himself off the table he had been leaning on. Kitty opened her mouth to reply when he spoke over her, “I’m glad Kurt found you, we’re just about to leave. I think they’re collecting some last pieces here for Dr. McCoy to finish up preparing the jump.”

Kitty just nodded at Brian, unwilling to divulge anything on her mind. Kurt once again slid his arm around her shoulders, sensing that she had some need for it, but unsure why. Brian was completely unperturbed by her silence, simply turning back to Alternate Hank to arrange the last parts of their continued journey.

Rachel slid closer to the two of them, leaned close to whisper to Kitty, “are you ok?” She used her slim fingers to brush some of Kitty’s unruly hair off her shoulder without dislodging Kurt’s arm. Kitty took a breath to steady her mind, the last thing she wanted was Rachel to catch a mental image of any part of what had transpired between her and Alternate Kurt. Especially any part of the desire that had ignited deep in her belly, as she wasn’t sure what to make of it yet. She wanted to manage herself before talking to Rachel about it. She just nodded at her friend, hopeful that her shields were good enough that Rachel would know she wanted privacy instead of feeling the mental echo of the strong male hand heavy against her ribcage.

In no time at all, Alternate Kitty walked into the lab, nearly mirroring Kitty with her own Kurt’s arm over her shoulder. She held a large paper bag in one arm, her other around Alternate Kurt’s waist. “We made some sandwiches for you to take with you, and I threw in some fruit too.” Alternate Kitty was looking directly at Kitty, but Kitty’s eyes were locked onto Alternate Kurt. He shot her an apologetic smile, clearly embarrassed.

Her Kurt, well… not ‘hers,’ the one she knew, accepted the paper bag gracefully, his arm sliding off of Kitty as he stepped forward. Whatever he said to her was lost as Kitty could feel Rachel’s attention laser focus on her. The noise Rachel made under her breath made Kitty blush, and fold into herself further. She could feel Rachel’s hand heavy on her shoulder, the playful banter of her other teammates with their counterparts faded into the background.

“You don’t need to tell me about it,” Rachel’s voice was low and kind. It only made Kitty feel more embarrassed that she’d picked up on the awkwardness. “He’s my friend too. I know how he can be, and I know how weird it is to see our friends be different people.”

Something in her voice made Kitty look at her. Rachel’s face could have been stone, it was set so stoically, but her eyes glittered with something deeper. Kitty realized there was so much she didn’t know about Rachel. So much Rachel herself didn’t know about her own life. It was curious, and a hint at that unknown past that made her think perhaps Rachel had remembered more about the future than she was letting on.

Kitty’s heart swelled for her friend. She hugged her, lightning fast, squeezing Rachel then releasing her to dab at the tears that had come up unbidden.

Rachel’s lips quirked into a brief smile, “next time you do that warn me.”

Grinning, Kitty said “no promises.”

“No really,” Rachel’s hand on her arm was light and warm, “I’d like to try to hug you back.”

Kitty laughed outright at that. “Come on, looks like they’re leaving without us.” Both of them near giggling as they turned to follow their friends back to the train.

Back on the train, Kitty stood next to Rachel again as they watched Alternate Hank and others gather to see them off. Alternate Hank’s solution to getting them jumping on to the next world had been something to do with Widget, but Kitty had been so lost in her own thoughts she had missed what it was. She watched him smile and wave, his blue face achingly familiar and yet so different at the same time.

Behind him, she saw her own doppelganger turn, deep in conversation with the Alternate Kurt. He laughed at whatever she’d just said, then leaned in close to her face. Time seemed to slow as she felt the residual energies from Widget power up. Slowly, ever so slowly, Alternate Kurt’s lips met those of her doppelganger, one hand trailing up her body to cup her face. Kitty tensed, watching, feeling detached from herself as the electricity of the jaunt strengthened, as Kurt kissed her deeply, his thumb on her jaw, disengaging to brush over her chest and settle on her stomach. It was the last she saw of the world, her alternate self and her best friend’s alternate self intimately embraced.

As the energies of the wormhole overtook her view of the window, Alternate Kurt’s seemingly off handed comment from earlier clicked. “Both.” His hand on her belly, the way he held her, speaking of changes, of resting her strength… this was a glimpse at a world where she lived comfortably carrying her best friend’s child. A child she would never meet now.

Rachel’s soft “oh,” next to her shunted her back into reality. Their eyes met, understanding dawning.

“How wonderful! They made peanut butter and honey sandwiches just for us!” Meggan disrupted the moment with her peal of laughter. Kitty let it disrupt and turned away from Rachel’s knowing eyes, unwilling to think about any of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now upwards and onwards to other worlds. More alternate versions of themselves will introduce themselves, but are they getting closer to home or farther away?


	3. Get a Little Tail!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival in a neo-noir world, the team immediately gets separated.

Time flows differently in-between universes. Really, it doesn’t exist there. So while the infernal train flew through a stygian night, filled with short and distant bursts of color, it was unclear how long the crew was trapped between worlds. It could have been mere moments, it could have been weeks. Bodily function wasn’t suppressed, they still slept, and they still ate when they were hungry, it was that one could only live in the moment.

That weightlessness was interrupted by other worlds, flashing briefly, or colorful and solid as the train bumped through oceans, prairies, stormy skies, mountainous peaks and valleys. World after world the train would stop, the passengers would depart, only to find it wasn’t yet their stop. So back on the train they would go, time would stop existing, and worlds would flash by endlessly.

So it didn’t come as a surprise when, with a soft bump, muted color filtered in through the windows at last, the world – well, a world – filtered in through everyone’s consciousness.

Outside the windows old stone brickwork leaned in close, moldy, and decrepit.

“If this is another place where I need to wear a bloody corset, I will kick everyone’s ass! I’ll kick your ass, and your ass too, I’ll kick my own ass if I’m stuck in another damn fairytale land!” Rachel fumed against the window, her breath fogging up the glass. Meggan had reached out one hand to pat her back but cautiously withdrew it at that.

“Well, don’t kick Widget’s ass, he’s the only thing that will get us home.” Kitty sighed. She had managed to lose all the underskirts to feel a bit lighter, but all she could do about the corset was loosen it. It felt strange now to not have that tightness around her chest. Kurt’s hand ghosted over her shoulder as he passed her to reach the door, his warmth tangible through the cold that had seeped in with the landing.

Kurt yanked at the door handle before anyone could stop him, the train’s carriage door opening with a hiss. Outside the door was the same moldy brickwork, small weeds growing in the cracks. While the wall was close, it still stood a couple of feet away from the outer hull of the train, seemly untouched during their entry. Kurt poked his head around the doorway to look out. When nothing flew at him, or tried to bite at him, he cautiously leaned further and looked both ways.

“It looks like a tunnel of some kind, but,” here he pressed one hand against the brickwork, his other holding the doorframe of the train, “I see some light flickering up to the right, near the front of the train. Anyone care to check it out with me?”

Kitty could tell his eyes were on her. She’d known Kurt long enough to recognize the direction of his pupiless gaze, even if she couldn’t follow his line of sight. A blush crept up her chest. She needed to be off the train, but needed more so to attempt to change clothes without anyone else in the room, finally. She loved her friends but privacy was at a premium these days.

“I’ll wait here a moment to look after Widget and change, just give me a few.”

Kurt smiled at her, his grin lighting up his face. “Gut-“

“Not me, I’m not waiting another second.” Rachel strode towards the door with purpose, striding between Brian and Meggan as she did so. Meggan laughed, but Brian scowled.

“We can’t just leave the train unattended, we need to see why we stopped. Did Widget run out of energy, is it the train somehow? Or worse, has something called us here specifically?” Brian’s background was engineering, and while he didn’t always use his degree, he did know what he was talking about when it came to the subject matter and the train. At this point nothing could stop Rachel. Nor Kurt, for that matter, as he was getting just as antsy as Rachel to be off the train. Not comprehending time, for an unknowable amount of time, tended to make a body uncomfortable. Kurt could just be more polite about it.

“Suit yourself, Cap, but I’m checking it out. You stay here, we’ll be back.” Rachel gripped Kurt’s arm and just about yanked him into the foot or so of gravel between the train and the wall. Meggan’s voice quietly telling Brian she would stay by his side was the last they heard as Rachel marched them forward to the light.

“Rachel, I don’t know that that was necessary,” Kurt rubbed his bicep where she had pulled at him.

Rachel just scoffed and waved her hand over her shoulder as she marched forward. Kurt looked behind him, he could see Kitty’s head and shoulder, the loose blouse tucked into her corset sliding down to reveal one shoulder. She waved briefly, catching his eye, before disappearing back into the train with a grin.

He turned his attention back to Rachel, who had just about reached the band of light that hit the train. She stopped briefly, shielding her eyes as she looked into the light. “Kurt, come look-“ she reached out her hand to grasp his as he met her. “It’s a train station.”

She was right. The light was shining in, not from that natural light he had become accustomed to, but rather what looked like fluorescents in the ceiling. Everything looked dilapidated, from the broken tile on the floor, to the cracked and crumbling stonework holding up what must have once been a ceiling with an intricate mural across it. Kurt and Rachel could see a nebula painted across the ceiling, and while much of the mural had chipped away, some familiar looking planets were still visible. Everything was dusty, the air smelled dank, but the station was wide, with archways interspersed in even intervals around the outer edge. It was beautiful.

Rachel braced herself on Kurt’s shoulder, and shoving skirts out of the way, she hoisted herself up from the train tracks to the platform. “I wear miniskirts or I wear pants, these are exhausting. I’m switching outfits, you want something different Kurt?”

He just laughed and pushed himself up to the edge, balancing briefly on his palms, tucked his head under and flipped himself over to land on his feet next to Rachel. “I think I’ll be ok.” In truth, he was wearing what he’d prefer to wear in his every day if it were the fashion back home. His white shirt billowed, open at his chest nearly to his navel, and having no buttons it was tucked into a red cloth belt wrapped around his slim frame. The pants were a deep red, nearly black, suede and supple against him. He had no need for shoes and no limit to his movements as he knew Rachel did in her garb from the previous universe.

“Well, we can’t all have it so good,” she said eyeing his pants in question. While they wouldn’t have left any flaw to the imagination on a normal man, Kurt had artfully arranged the fringe on his belt to remain somewhat more subtle. With a moment’s concentration, Rachel realigned the molecules in her clothing to resemble something closer to her usual minidress and leather jacket. “Ooh, that’s much better! Now I’m comfortable.” With the heels and the way her red dress clung to her, Kurt wasn’t sure what difference she had truly made, but Rachel knew herself, and who was he to judge in his suede pants.

Her heels clicked as she toured the train station. It was in clear disrepair, and covered in dust as though people hadn’t been in it for a decade. Despite the station’s clear age, the stone work was intricate, and the broken machinery that may have once been where riders paid tolls was sleek and polished. It almost looked high tech.

Kurt startled, his head swiveling in Rachel’s directed as she stumbled over something unseen on the tiled floor. She paused a moment, sliding her eyes towards Kurt, hands out. Usually in this moment some trap would have been triggered, or some ridiculous foe would make themselves known, but in this case silence greeted them.

“I don’t sense anything,” Rachel relaxed her stance.

Kurt chuffed a laugh. “How unusual for us-“

That’s when the clicking began, slowly at first but it quickly sped up. Light glowed from the crack in the floor that Rachel had stumbled over, flickering, but the flickering was speeding up as well. Light jumped from the crack, flickered once more, then took the shape of a glowing humanoid figure.

“Wel---chhhk---to---th---chhhk---Station!” The hologram spread its hands and bowed, then glitched out of existence.

“Ok… so that’s something.” Rachel had taken another step back from the space the hologram appeared.

“It seems as if this world has a mixture of low tech and high tech. Interesting that something as seemingly high tech as a motion sensitive hologram should be in an abandoned space like this.” Kurt hadn’t moved, but he took the time to swivel and look around the train station with a new eye.

“Nothing is ever what meets the eye on this whole blasted trip,” Rachel huffed.

“Next stop! Hell---chhhk---Club---all---chhhk---aboard!” The hologram winked back on. Now it wore a parody of a train conductor’s uniform, hat lifted in greeting.

No longer unnerving, the hologram was a curiosity and Rachel stepped closer. “What system could possibly power this?”

The hologram’s face glitched as Rachel leaned in to examine it, but it’s voice rang just as loudly as before. “Save---all---chhhhk---tions---until---chhk---departure.”

Kurt could barely get the question “departure?” from his lips before the station filled with an incredibly loud grinding sound. He twisted suddenly as the train that he and Rachel had arrived on shrieked with the sound of metal scraping metal, and began moving forward. Both Rachel and Kurt had only taken a few steps forward towards the train before it seemed to disappear in a flash of light.

“Fuck!” Rachel fumed.

“Rachel!” Kurt ‘s reaction felt delayed, and truthfully more about Rachel’s uncharacteristic swearing than what his brain had yet to process - the train, their erstwhile home, had just disappeared in front of him. Rachel’s powers glowed next to him, drowning out his own innate night vision and shutting down his ability to look for clues. However, it seemed like it had been teleported, not destroyed.

“I don’t sense anything, there’s just a hint of energy following the tracks up through the tunnel. But I don’t understand at all… what just happened?” Rachel’s glow lit up the room around them, nearly blinding Kurt, and he had to avert his eyes from her display of power. She was hovering several feet off the ground, floating closer to the track itself.

Kurt felt like punching something. His home was on that train. His home was the people on that train, gone now. In his mind’s eye he saw the corner of Kitty’s smile as she ducked back in the doorway, hair dark hair flowing over one bare shoulder. Meggan’s face swam into view, and he cursed himself for leaving her alone with Brian. Much as he wanted Kitty near, it was good she was there for Meggan. Brian wasn’t unkind necessarily… he just could escalate the situation beyond control, and Kurt worried. Kitty’s calm head could balance them until he and Rachel could find them again… hopefully.

Kurt’s eyes flitted around the station once more, landing on the crack in which the hologram had emanated. He padded over silently, and brushed debris from the area with one foot. Hopeful some sign would appear, some answer gifted to them from above, he crouched down to look more closely at the crack. What had triggered the hologram in the first place? Was it the hologram that had teleported the train to the next stop?

And what, most importantly, was the next stop?

There was something in the floor, glittering in the dispersed lighting coming from Rachel. Still crouching, he brushed it again with his foot.

“Next stop -----chhhhk----just depart---chhhhhk” The hologram sprung to life again, making Kurt jump back. He managed to twist and fall on his hip, sliding back several feet just from momentum. Rachel flew back to him, landing solidly on her heels next to him. The energies that could lift Rachel off the ground made the debris fly around them, bouncing off of Kurt as he lay on the ground, shielding his face. “Hellfire Club all aboard next ----- chhhhhhk”

“What, Kurt, does that mean something to you?” Rachel reacted not to the hologram, but the dawning horror on Kurt’s face. The Hellfire Club was something from a particularly twisted nightmare of his. All he knew of it was that they had tried to kidnap Kitty the first time he’d ever met her. Since then he’d heard rumors about what other sorts of things they got up to, none of which sounded good.

“If the train was teleported to the Hellfire Club, the next stop from this station, we need to go there now.” He was up off the floor in a flash, gripping Rachel’s wrist in his worry. “Right now.”

She placed a hand over his, only nodding at him. She disengaged and looked around the station again for clues. Tsking, she kicked a bit of the stone debris on the floor with her heel, spinning it across the floor. The piece of stone hit another crack in the floor, activating a second hologram.

“Welcome to Wycombe Station, how may I help you?” This hologram, like the glitching hologram earlier, was a cartoon version of a conductor. Occasionally a line of pixels would malfunction and slide, giving the hologram a wavering appearance, but it blinked patiently at both Rachel and Kurt as they stood there, dumbstruck.

“What the f-“

“Do you think it understands us?”

“’solutely ridiculus, what kind of technology is this?”

“Where’s the Hellfire Club?”

Kurt and Rachel spoke over each other rapid fire, their reactions delayed. Kurt placed his palm over Rachels arm and she gripped his wrist with her other hand, quieting each other just as quickly as they had shot off the questions.

The hologram lifted its hat in greeting and said, “thank you for asking. I am a simulated train station attendant, at your service to answer any questions that arise as you travel. I am programmed to not respond when sworn at. I understand thirty-five different languages, including Kree and Esperanto. My software is the Hospitality Package from Worthington Industries, Version 10.3, if you would like to purchase a similar package for your personal hospitality devices. The Hellfire Club is currently owned by the similarly named Hellfire Corporation, and where their main offices are located. This mansion, built by Sir Dashwood in the late eighteenth century is now a cultural institution, with award winning gardens, a Michelin rated restaurant, the Shaw-Frost Gallery, and an event space open to reservations upon demand. It is located point six miles North of Wycombe Station. Please state your RF-ID to send more information to your personal devices.”

Kurt and Rachel met eyes, and almost simultaneously asked the hologram which way North was. Barely fritzing anymore, it pointed to a previously unseen doorway, and in a rush of air Rachel carried her and Kurt over to it. The doorway lead to a spiral staircase which led upwards, towards a pinkish light.

Arriving at the top of the staircase, leaving Wycombe station entirely, Kurt and Rachel could see that the pinkish light was not morning or evening light, but rather layers upon layers of glowing neon. There was no natural lighting anywhere, it was all lit up by various shops, light from windows piercing the night, or from brilliantly colorful advertisements that filled the street. It had rained recently, and the water still on the ground served only to act as a mirror for the pink, blue, and yellow neon signs to make the world look like it stretched on forever below them. High above their heads, mist obscured the top of the high rises flanking the street, giving it a dream like quality.

“It pointed this way,” Rachel said, taking off between two noodle shops.

Kurt followed, his senses overwhelmed. They walked together in silence, just taking in the incredible sights around them. There were many people out and about, but none reacted to either their clothes nor their looks.

Rachel broke the silence as they walked with a deep sigh.

“Have you spoken to Kitty yet?”

“I speak to Kitty every day…”

“No, about…” Rachel’s eyes met his briefly before moving forward again as they walked. “About the world where you guys all ran a regular school.”

“What about it?” Kurt’s eyes passed over a neon sign as they passed it, advertising scantily clad women with obvious mutations. The tag line read ‘get a little tail with your tail!’ He tore his eyes away from the neon - animated to look like a young lady licking the fork in her tail - to look over at Rachel.

She looked pissed. “You don’t see it at all, do you?”

“See what? Was?” Behind Rachel was a ramen shop, lit up like it was day light inside. The sign with a cartoon crab lounging happily in a bowl of soup smiled merrily down at Rachel’s scowl.

“You don’t see what’s right in front of you! Or maybe what’s obviously not right in front of you.” Rachel normally had a very short lead on her temper, but it was rare to see it turned on himself like this. “This whole trip is, I don’t know,” she fiddled with the small braid coming off the back of her neck, “this whole trip is a lot to handle.”

Kurt nodded, continuing to walk side by side. His eyes kept flickering over the wet neon they passed, the small open air restaurants, and the colorful digital billboards that seemed to be posted so high in some occasions they got lost in the mist above. Just this one world was a lot to take in. “Ja, it is strange we have not yet met another you.”

Rachel looked at him sharply. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t find it strange we have not met another you?”

“It’s not strange. I’m from the future. A bad future, so I hope there aren’t other versions of me out there.”

Kurt opened his mouth to try and backtrack, but she interrupted him with “I don’t want to talk about it.”

They walked past a few more shopfronts, ostensively in the direction that the hologram had pointed them towards the Hellfire Club. They passed another sex shop, and a ‘rare-medium-and well done” book store, complete with nudes advertising artfully arranged titles. Something about this place made him think of the red-light district in Amsterdam, which was fitting for what he knew of the Hellfire Club. Kinky old rich white people locked up together plotting global dominion, it wasn’t a good look no matter where you were.

What was surprising was that almost everywhere there were a healthy sprinkling of visible mutants. At the book store, one advertisement included a shockingly purple woman lovingly caressing a deep yellow book in her lap, and coming out of a shop they passed was a man with two heads. No one batted an eye. No one shrieked at him, no one pointed their fingers and gasped, and no one said anything about the devil in his direction. As they walked, Kurt accidentally made eye contact with a person such a deep shade of almost imperceptible blue, they looked like a silhouette - a silhouette who nodded back at him as he passed.

“That’s not… that’s not quite fair,” Rachel pulled him back to reality with a snap. “But you really haven’t noticed anything?”

Kurt sighed. “I’m sorry Rachel. There is a lot to notice right now.” On this world, and on any of the previous worlds they had been jettisoned through. “Can you be more specific?”

“Don’t be sarcastic, Kurt.”

“I’m not being sarcastic!”

With her brows furroughed, Rachel just shook her head sharply. “I’m talking about Kitty, haven’t you noticed -“

It was at that moment the two of them just about tripped over the very thing they were looking for. Nestled between a dumpling shop and what might have been a very fashionable leather store (if not for the obvious ball gag on one of the mannequins), was a large stone archway with a recessed door beneath. The front door looked normal enough, lit up only by the red neon sign bearing the name “Hellfire Club.” The neon was designed to flicker at the bottom, as though the sign itself was on fire. The hulking shape of a security man outside became even more menacing in the flickering red light.

The bouncer saw them coming and quashed any hope for an easy entrance with “closed for a private event.”

Rachel had no qualms stepping right up to the man and demanding entrance. She poked her finger into his chest. “We need to get inside right now.”

The bouncer calmly used his hand to brush her fingers away. “Sure you do. Everyone does.”

Rachel tried a new track. Confidence was key with these people, especially if they were the monsters Kurt feared they were. “Don’t you know who we are?”

The bouncer barely raised his eyes to look at the two of them before declaring they should get out before he kicked them out. Rachel collected herself a moment before climbing into his mind. Right there, between the swirling memories of a lap dance from a nigh-on ridiculously voluptuous green woman and the kiss on the cheek he gave to his mother that morning, there was a slight feeling of ‘yes’ she was looking for. Everyone had it somewhere in their mind, and usually Rachel didn’t hunt for it - the ‘yes.’ The ‘let’s see what happens.’ The curiosity that arises from sitting and watching. In the bouncer it was tangled in his sense of power and control, which made it easier to grasp and twist and make it seem like it was his idea, they were still in his control, as he was going to invite them in to see what happened.

Feeling slightly guilty but determined to follow the clues to her missing friends, she rationalized that it was his job letting people in, and who were they if not people who wanted in? With that she tugged on his thoughts once more and he said “Alright, alright fine. They’ll sort you out inside. You’ll find out soon enough if it’s for you.”

Kurt just looked at her sideways as they walked past the bouncer. She could feel the disapproval radiating off of him, but like her, he knew it was a necessary step closer to Kitty, Meggan, and Brian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone wondering about the Kurt/Emma, just keep reading... things get worse before they get better. Next chapter includes some explicit scenes so skip the next chapter if you're uncomfortable with Hellfire Club orgy shenanigans (although all parties consent and enthusiastically participate). Detective Grey makes a cameo to help find their missing teammates.


	4. Trial by Hellfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The background on the Hellfire Club comes from Uncanny X-men 129 or so, you will not have had to read it in any way to understand this chapter.

Once in the doorway, the bland exterior gave way to exquisite filigree and columns leading all visitors further into the enormous mansion. It didn’t quite look like a business, nothing up front to buy, but the elegant marble and plush carpeting were designed to bring guests inside and down a long center hallway. Kurt and Rachel could hear faintly the sounds of people, laughter, the various susurrations of what may have been a party. No signs yet of Kitty, Meggan, Brian, or Widget.

“Let’s hope it’s not like the Hellfire Club back home,” Kurt said as he moved forward.

“What’s it like at home? I’ve never been,” Rachel was next to him, matching his pace. As they eyed the long hallway, there were no signs of others, but the party noises were getting louder.

“It’s full of evil people. The woman who leads it, Emma Frost, wears practically nothing, and for what reason? She commands a small army in her underwear, I’ve never understood. She kidnapped Piotr, Ororo, Logan, and the professor and it was Kitty who helped save them. Before she was even an X-men.”

“What do you mean before?” Rachel looked over at him.

“The Professor had gone to recruit her, but Emma Frost was trying to also recruit her for her own school. Then Frost attacked, and Kitty managed to escape. I was with Jean and Scott trying to recruit Dazzler, and Kitty called me on the emergency line. When we arrived she had managed to evade the Hellfire Club so long she was near to passing out. I jumped in and pulled her up a building to the rooftop, but… I scared her so bad that she ran away from me….” Kurt rubbed the back of his neck, it wasn’t a good memory. He and Kitty had gotten much closer since then, but the awkwardness of that first encounter still had some power over him when he thought of it. Kitty had grown up a lot since them - him too, no longer feeling like the gawky teenager from all those years ago, but it stung nonetheless.

“Kitty doesn’t scare easily, you probably did something to her.” Rachel just shook her head. The Kitty she knew would never frighten like how Kurt had described.

Kurt took a breath and let the comment slide. It was true, now Kitty didn’t scare easily. But it had taken a long time for her to get used to him. Everyone took a long time to ‘get used’ to him. The Cross Time Caper had been the first time since he’d left his family campervan that he’d been automatically accepted. Much as he loved his fellow X-men, he had felt the need to be likeable so that they could see him beyond just his appearance. The effort was worth it, but it was exhausting. Seeing all the visible mutants intermingling with the mundanes in this one particular world was amazing, and inspired a feeling he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Nostalgia perhaps, as he was loved for himself back home in the circus. But even there he needed to put on an act in the big top to explain away his appearance. Perhaps then a vague amorphous nostalgia for what hadn’t yet happened, for a future that could be.

Rachel gasped as the hallway ended at the top of a wide split spiral staircase. The two of them could overlook the entire ballroom below. Looking over the marble rail, they could see it was enormous. The platform they stood on split in both directions, the stairs intersected with several more platforms before finally arriving on the checkered marble of the main room. Each platform had a center space with couches or platforms, it was difficult to determine from where they stood. People clustered around the centers and were interspersed in cliques over the dance floor below.

The ballroom was filled with people, nearly half of which were visible mutants. Kurt and Rachel could see individuals with wide ranges of mutations on the ballroom floor and every subsequent split level platform all the way back up to the level they stood on. Mutations were really on display as well, as the vast majority of wore either next to nothing, or nothing.

“You said Emma Frost wore almost naught, not that the whole club,” Rachel hissed at him.

Kurt was dumbfounded. The ‘private event’ they had crashed was clearly an orgy. As much as he didn’t want to focus on what was going on on each platform, he could understand the tangle of bodies for what it was. Was Kitty here? Gott, what would Brian say? It made him ill to think of the ladies in his life being unwillingly subjected to this.

Before he could stop himself, he said “we need to look around. We need to find them.”

Rachel’s attention had been caught by a platform that was mostly women drinking champagne. He pulled her eyes away by gripping her upper arm and twisting her to look at him. “Can you do a scan?”

“No, I… I…” she seemed flustered.

“Rachel are you ok?”

She took a deep breath. “The emotions are running too high right now. I’m just getting residual… uh… interest from the group, it’s clouding everything. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Kurt just nodded. He’d never seen anything like this either, outside of particularly lurid dreams. Unbidden, a memory of certain magazines he and his brother had found in the forest swam to the forefront of his mind. Rachel made a face. “Kurt, you forget, before my world went to hell, I had a pretty normal childhood.” She looked over the balcony at the mass of participants. “I don’t think anyone will notice if we look around for the rest of Excalibur.”

“Ja, I agree. People are distracted. I don’t think they’ll fight us.”

Both Kurt and Rachel’s attention was pulled to a new couple that had joined them on the balcony. The man had bent his compatriot over the railing and was doing something to make them moan quite loudly. Kurt realized his hand was still on Rachel’s arm, he let go of her suddenly then straightened the spiked leather jacket top she wore. He cleared his throat to get her to tear her eyes from the couple.

Rachel turned back to him, “Yeah… yeah, let’s split up. You go left, I’ll go right.”

“Let’s meet at the buffet on the ground floor. Can you ‘call’ me despite the clouding emotions from the group?” He tapped his temple at the word ‘call.’ Usually Rachel could keep the team in psychic rapport but he wasn’t sure he wanted Rachel reading his every thought right now.

“Yes.” Emotion flitted across her face briefly before she quelled it. She straightened the collar of Kurt’s open white shirt, dusting some nonexistent dust off his shoulder. “Don’t get distracted again, ok?”

Kurt was already distracted, truth be told. Enough to not catch the ‘again’ in Rachel’s statement. He clapped her once on the shoulder and they split down the opposite staircases. 

There was so much to see, and Kurt took in as much as he could. As surreal as it was, he knew that he would never live to see anything like this again. Visible mutants on equal footing with other people, celebrating the powers their bodies provided by giving and receiving pleasure. His mind was a cocktail of mixed feelings.

On one hand, this was not his scene. Sure, Kurt liked to flirt, but… mostly that was to put people at ease. He didn’t really expect the attention to be returned, it was an easy way to be kind and complimentary and have people like him. And when the attention was returned, he much preferred to be somewhere a little - a lot - more private to explore those attentions.

On the other hand… wow. People really were accepting here. Kurt paused briefly at a landing where a woman was dancing, her dark red skin shining in the soft lighting. She slowly peeled more clothing off to reveal red suede undergarments the same color as the pants he was wearing. She noticed him and wiggled her fingers in his direction, and he started and continued walking, unable to wipe the sudden inexplicable grin from his face.

The next landing had people in slightly more dress sitting around a low table drinking something bubbly from tall fluted glasses. Kurt tried to not notice anything else going on, he didn’t want any physical reaction to give him away. Two ladies with elaborate braids in their hair noticed him as he walked near and lifted a glass towards him. He accepted the glass before realizing he had, and one of the ladies ran her fingers lightly over his arm.

“Join us,” she smiled and patted the seat next to her. “I’m Honey, what’s your name?”

“Kurt,” he had to clear his throat to get any sound out. Honey’s braids he noticed now were artfully arranged to create a little modesty, as her dress was split to cover only her ribs and one shoulder. “I can’t… er, join you-“

“Ohhh,” both Honey and her companion looked disappointed.

“I do apologize, I’m looking for a woman, my friend. She’s about this tall,” he gestured at his shoulder, “she has curly brown hair, and er,” how to describe Kitty? They wouldn’t know her smile or her sense of humor. They wouldn’t recognize her kindness or inherent strength. He tried to picture her in his minds eye what she looked like the last time he’d seen her. Her hair spilled over her bare shoulder and she winked at him before disappearing back into the train. It was hard to keep his memory chaste in these surroundings. His memory of her in that moment was being rewritten as he pictured it, his blue hand moving the hair off of her neck and shoulder, her strong arms curling around his back.

He stomped the thought out of his head before he had to think about its implications. “And she was wearing a blouse that came down around her shoulders… she was wearing a corset… I think.”

“That is so sweet. Did you guys decide to meet here?” Honey’s companion folded one hand over her heart.

“So cute that you’re meeting your lady love in such an open place… that’s really how you should do it.” Honey clinked glasses with the one Kurt held lax in his hand.

“I… er, didn’t say lady love, although she is lovely.”

“My goodness, is this your first date?”

“Nein, she-“

“That is really how you declare your love for someone. To meet them here, to show everyone the depth of your heart, out for all to witness and celebrate with you.” This voice was new, and belonged to a woman laid on the chaise lounge that Kurt was studiously trying not to look at. She had one hand curled in the hair of the woman between her legs, the other ran up her side to that she could bite her finger coyly. “That’s how I met my first husband - ooh!” The woman between her legs chuckled.

Kurt just nodded silently and began to back away. “Ja, that is very nice, good for you, this woman is, this one is, hmm, excuse me. I must find her.”

Honey held up her glass towards Kurt, “here’s to your lady love!”

Kurt held up his glass over his shoulder as he retreated.

He made it all the way to the ballroom floor, no signs of Meggan, Brian, or Kitty. He didn’t quite want to ask anyone else for any leads, either, with how the last one went. Half of him was relieved, if he were honest with himself, he truly could not imagine anything more awkward. And if they weren’t here, he and Rachel would just regroup and leave, go back to the hologram in the abandoned train station to figure it out. Although perhaps Rachel had found more than he had. Even better, they would find a lead elsewhere and never, ever, have to speak about this again.

He scanned the room to look for her. His eyes caught sight of the last person he wanted to see, the dreaded Frost woman. She was standing on the center dais, surrounded with individuals preoccupied with each other.

She was much more beautiful than the one he’d met a long time ago in different circumstances. Here, she’d given up her ridiculous corset and fur cape for a soft sheer robe that flowed behind her like water. The robe was lined with the softest looking white fur at the sleeves, the bottom edge, and where it was clasped around her. He didn’t spend much time admiring the handiwork, since it was so sheer he could tell she was most decidedly not wearing anything underneath.

When he was finally able to shift his eyes north to her face again, he realized she’d been watching him looking at her the whole time. Her eyes met his, as her delicate fingers toyed with the huge diamond hung around her neck on a thick silver necklace. She arched an eyebrow and he was suddenly glad for his thick blue pelt so that she couldn’t see his blush.

Her fingers let go of her necklace and she curled her index towards him, beckoning him closer. Schieße, he just remembered she was a telepath. Thankfully he knew his own thoughts had been scattered and hopefully she couldn’t understand any surface thoughts if they were in German.

Kurt caught himself gulping as he got closer. This was the woman who had tried to kidnap Kitty when she was just a kid. This was the woman who put Piotr and Logan and even Ororo in a cage when they tried to stop her. But the woman who had done all of that and the one in front of him felt completely different. That woman had seemed to have a cruel edge to her that was unmistakable, and this one was all soft curves and wet lips. What had Kitty said so long ago? Rachel had just mentioned something about the world where they’d run a regular school together. She’d talked about how different people were, how their friends in other universes weren’t the same people they had grown to know at home. Kitty was so beautiful and smart, maybe she was onto something there. Gott, Kitty was so great, he suddenly wished she was here.

He hadn’t broken eye contact with Emma, and had drifted close enough to smell her perfume. She still hadn’t said anything, just stood on her dais as the people around her went about their own business. He could see from the corner of his vision that the club had really gotten into the swing of things, so to say, as he’d made his way down the stairs and across the ballroom to her. Bodies glistened, moving together, mouths open, and he could sense the heat rising all around him.

Emma just cocked her head, her eyes studying the planes of his face. Her lips parted, and he could see her tongue just behind her teeth and she reached out to him. She paused, her fingers millimeters from slipping into his open shirt, and she flicked her eyes back up to his. He could feel her warmth radiating out at him, her dark nipples and the diamond anchored in her bellybutton visible under her robe. He swallowed, nodded almost imperceptibly, and she resumed moving to scratch her long white nails through the hair on his abdomen. Her fingers left a trail of electricity, and he could feel himself stiffen in response.

She moved her lips closer to his own, and trailed them from the corner of his slightly open mouth to make a wet trail up to his ear. Her other hand had joined the first inside his shirt, alternating between lightly scratching and running her fingers over the impossible silkiness of his fur. He was near panting it felt so good, and he hadn’t even touched her yet. Kurt felt like putty in her hands, he’d never been the sole focus of a beautiful woman like this before.

Suddenly, and without warning, there was a bang. Not the same type of banging that had been going on previously, but something new and far more unpleasant. The noise brought Kurt out of the state Emma’s eyes and hands had put him in, and he instinctively ducked, bringing his body even closer to hers. His instinct was to leap out of harms way, or put himself somehow on top of her for protection, but not knowing where the noise had come from, all he managed to do to knock the two of them to the ground.

Emma Frost got one arm around him, he could feel her warm skin stiffen against him and go cold as she turned into diamond. “You fool,” she hissed in his ear, “you led them here didn’t you?”

“Was? Them who?”

“I know who you are Wagner,” her grip was strong and he couldn’t look away from her face. The marble floor was faintly visible through her head, and the light bounced off of her features to spill rainbows across his own blue skin. “You owe me.”

With that, her grip on the back of his shirt got tighter, and she threw him off of herself. The noise all around him got louder and more chaotic as people began panicking, running scared, or attempting to power up. He himself could only manage to push his torso back up off the ground and watch stupefied as Emma rolled to her feet and ran. Her sheer robe billowed out behind her to give him one last comical look at her nude behind as she leapt over the dais and disappeared behind a heavy fringed curtain. Smoke seemed to pour in from everywhere, and he could see Rachel skid across the floor in pursuit of several figures in black with masked helmets.

Kurt struggled to gather his mind for a teleport - his powers felt faint and far away, and the spark that usually signified the impending teleport was dull. His last coherent thought before his teleport made him crash into Rachel was that of embarrassed wonder - not only did some unknown nefarious parties know they were there, that someone had caught up to them to completely take them by surprise.

He realized slowly that Rachel was under him now, across the room from where he’d been with Emma Frost. His head felt so heavy and Rachel’s coughing was jarring, pressed against him. He needed to get them out of there, the smoke had gotten so heavy that he could barely see a foot away in the room. The dark figures swam in and out of the fog in pursuit of partiers, but it seemed he and Rachel had been forgotten about. Disoriented, Kurt pressed himself against Rachel - teleports were easier when more of what he was teleporting was attached to him for the ride. He slid his arms under her back, and she pressed her face into his neck to try and quell the coughing.

Kurt just couldn’t get his head around the idea of teleporting. Everything going on around him took him away from what should have been as simple as snapping his fingers. He could feel Rachel’s tickle in the back of his head, her mental voice was so faint and far away he could barely hear her. He felt the emotional equivalent of an exclamation point dig into his skull, and her actual voice loud in his ear shouting “watch out!”

Suddenly someone hauled him up by the back of his neck. They held him roughly, gathering his arms behind his back and locking them into place as he got his feet under him. His tail lashed, trying to push away at the helmeted figure, but his whole body felt too fogged to do anything much more than keep his breathing steady. Another figure holstered their gun, flipped Rachel onto her stomach then handcuffed her as well.

“You are under arrest,” a voice boomed from the helmet so loud that Kurt flinched. Rachel was pulled upright and the two of them were pushed through the fog which was now beginning to disperse. “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say absolutely will be used against you, pervert.”

He and Rachel were marched back down the long hallway they had come out of, and as they walked, their heads cleared. Kurt couldn’t say anything aloud to Rachel for fear of being overheard, and he couldn’t hear her presence in his mind any longer. She just gave him a wide eyed look, which turned furious when the policeman jostled her a little too roughly. Scenes around them swam into focus as they were marched - other party goers in handcuffs and what looked like police issued bathrobes for a modicum of modesty. The woman who had been having fun bent over the railing was now shouting at a police officer, nose to nose, her finger jabbing his lapel. Her partner was in cuffs, just shaking their head. Another person in cuffs was refusing the police modesty robe, swishing their hair over one shoulder and striking a pose as they held their hands out to be handcuffed.

A man Kurt recognized as Sebastian Shaw was snarling at what must have been the police chief. He wore his trademark pants, cummerbund, and no shirt, his hair chaotically spilling from the plait behind his head. The officer had removed their mirrored helmet and held one placating hand up as Shaw ranted. “This is a private business, you absolute troglodyte. We have all of the proper authorization, signed by the city commissioner for private adult parties. I filed the paperwork myself! And aerosolized inhibitor agent? Isn’t that fucking overkill?”

The officer attempted to break in with “our warrant clearly states -“

“Warrant?? Warrant? Whatever judge signed that warrant I will make sure they never see inside a courtroom the rest of their miserable lives. My donations pay your pension, which I am now rethinking,” the rest of what Shaw snarled was lost as Kurt and Rachel were led outside.

They were led to a police van, and roughly shoved inside. Taking a seat on the bench, their handcuffs were clipped to the bench itself. Kurt had one eye on the locking mechanism, thinking how he might be able to pick it with his tail. No one ever thought to control his tail, and he had enough experience being kidnapped that he’d gotten quite good at picking locks with not much else.

Rachel didn’t need to be able to read his mind to sense a plan forming. She met his eyes and nodded, ready to follow Kurt’s lead to get them out of the van. The arresting officers didn’t even bother to notice, they just reached for a metal box under the bench and pulled it out. Opening it, the officer pulled a roll of duct tape and a length of bandage from it. He roughly pulled Kurt’s tail from where it was discreetly wrapped around his leg, much to Kurt’s surprise. The officer didn’t say anything as he wrapped a section of Kurt’s tail in the bandages, placed it back against Kurt’s leg, then duct taped it to his pants.

Kurt could only watch in silent open-mouthed admonishment. A downside he had not considered to being in a world filled with other visible mutants is that they might be prepared for his tail.

“Alright,” the officer peeled off another length of duct tape, “we’re taking you to the station. You’ll be held and questioned, feel free to get your stories straight.” The officer chuckled darkly, twisted the end tip of Kurt’s tail up into a U, and taped it back down, ensuring Kurt couldn’t wiggle it out of the binding.

“That’s directly on his fur, you monster,” Rachel’s fists came up lightning fast, only to get painfully stopped by the cuffs.

“Tell it to Detective Grey.” The officer slammed the door, and the van started.

Kurt’s mouth still hadn’t closed, and dropped open further as he and Rachel met eyes. With a rumble, the van lurched, and drifted upwards, neon flashing in the windows as they flew through the air to the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next comes Detective Grey and the team discovers more about their counterparts in this world.


	5. Precinct X

They had him alone in an interview room, his wrists chained to the table and his tail still duct taped to his leg. It was beginning to become quite uncomfortable in addition to insulting. Just looking at it, the spaded tip twitching against him, both physically and in his soul, he chaffed.

“Herr Wagner.” The only door in and out of the small interrogation room quietly slid open and a woman who could only have been Jean Grey walked through.

Before he could stop himself he breathed out, “Jean…”

“Not here I’m not.” She hung up her black duster on a peg by the door, then took the chair directly in front of him. Her back was to the mirrored glass that took up a large section of the opposite wall. “Here you will address me as Detective Grey.”

With a moment now to look at her, Kurt could see the differences between his Jean and this Detective Grey. She had the same eyes, the same beautiful red hair, but she didn’t have the smile lines around her mouth he was familiar with. This one wore an oversize white button-down shirt, the collar held loosely together with a faded black tie and a hat with a brim that caused her eyes to be in shadow no matter how she tilted her head. She cocked an eyebrow at him expectantly.

“Jean, I…” seeing the depth of those eyes as like looking into a pool, the emotions rippling just below the surface. Her eyes flashed and the Jean he thought he recognized was gone, replaced by a harder looking woman. Despite the clear differences, she was still a sight for sore eyes. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Again Herr Wagner, it’s Detective Grey. I know it’s been a while, but I expect you show me the respect I’m due in this precinct.”

“Ja, of course, Detective Grey.” He tried to spread his hands in supplication but the cuffs didn’t let him get far.

“I’m surprised you’re here, to be frank.” She got back out of the chair and hung her fedora over the camera in the corner of the room. Kurt could only watch, his confusion growing. “Last we parted ways, we made plans to meet next week. And yet,” she spread her own hands out as she returned to the table. “Here you are. This was not the deal.”

Kurt nodded at her wide eyed. He wasn’t sure how much should say, if he should tell her he wasn’t the man she knew, or if that would make things worse for him in the long run.

“Would you care to explain why you were at a sex party, Kurt? Hmm?” Her brows raised and she cocked her head at him. “You really didn’t seem the type.”

All thought dried up and his head fell into his cuffed hands in shame. His whole body curled in on itself, his toes clasped in tight fists and his tail jerked, attempting to swish behind him in agitation but instead locked into place. Kurt hunched his shoulders, shame absolutely flooding through him. He had been so in wonder, surrounded by beautiful people, visibly different like himself. He had seen the celebration and elation and for a moment he had forgotten where he was.

Detective Grey burst out laughing. Her laughter was much like the version Kurt was more familiar with, light and fun, near on incapable of maliciousness. She inspired laughter in others, and he could feel the shame shrink back to the far recesses of his mind in the light of her laughter. The question now seemed like a joking poke at him, rather than an accusation.

Cautiously he looked up from his palms, one eye first, followed by the other as he saw Detective Grey genuinely in tears from her laughter. As he watched, a confused smile growing on his own face, she fished a pack of cigarettes out of the front pocket of her shirt and casually lit it by snapping her fingers. She chuckled around her cigarette and shook her head at him.

“Swung right out of the big top and into the bedroom, huh? Just love an audience for all that… swinging.” She took a drag on the cigarette and blew it towards the corner of the room.

“I know it looked bad, truly,” there was no way he was going to be able to explain that part away, “but please, read my mind. I was only looking for my friends.”

Detective Grey’s eyes went blank at that, the laughter gone. “Excuse me?”

“Just look into my mind, you’ll see why I was there. I lost people important to me, and we had a clue, well not really a clue, maybe a hunch-“

“No,” the cigarette wiggled in her mouth as she talked through clenched teeth. “No, I don’t care about that. Who the hell do you think you are just saying something like that?”

“Jean, Detective Grey,” indecision flickered briefly, but he decided to soldier on, “we know each other. You know me here too, clearly, but where I am from we are good friends. Just look inside and-“

“Shh!” She glanced over at the closed door, her hat still blocking the camera. “I blocked the recording device, but keep your damn voice down, they can still hear us through the door.” She took the cigarette out of her mouth and jabbed it at him. “Where the hell do you get off just casually mentioning mind reading? Who are you really?”

Kurt recoiled in his chair, away from the lit cherry now near his face. “Was?”

“You really aren’t the man I know, are you?” When Kurt didn’t immediately answer she pushed forward, “we aren’t allowed to be telepaths here. No one, I repeat, no one knows that about me. You’ve worked for me for a long time, ever since I busted your ass over in the Natural History Museum climbing down the wall to steal their jade collection. You report to me anything you hear that might cause pain and I let you occasionally rob jewels from heavily insured rich old people. That was our deal. None of this other crazy shit.”

Detective Grey glared at him speculatively as she took another pull on her rapidly diminishing cigarette. She pulled her tie loose and unbuttoned the top couple of buttons on her blouse. Pulling it to the side, she showed him a clunky silver necklace that dipped below her collar bone. “It’s a telepathy inhibitor. Any other powers, fine, but they do NOT like mind reading around here, so you had better keep your lips sealed, Kurt.” At that she rebuttoned the shirt but didn’t bother with the tie.

Jean took a deep breath, her head in her hands with the noxious smelling cigarette dangling between two long fingers. Kurt felt terrible, this day had been an emotional roller coaster. That he could deal with for himself, but to see a friend in turmoil was verging on too much to deal with.

“I’m so sorry Je… Detective. I did not know.” It took a lot to keep himself from reaching out to her.

“I could tell something was up by your clothes but you… really… aren’t from around here, are you?” She looked at him between two fingers. “The Kurt Wagner I know would have tried to charm me out of cigarillo or into a drink.”

“I… I still could?” He shrugged. “I’m not much of one for a smoke, but today had been a lot to deal with and a beer would be fantastische.”

She just shook her head, brushing off his attempt at diffusing with humor. “I am not going to… do what you suggest. I’ve done what I can to minimize eyes and ears on our conversation, which I can do since they think you’re my CI, but that’s just asking for trouble. I’m beginning to believe you really aren’t the Schweinehund I know. Start with why you were at the Hellfire Club, and maybe we can help each other.

Kurt could only laugh, “Schweinehund? I thought you said you got along with my version here.“

“You taught me that, actually. Well, he did. We are companionable enemies.” She shrugged, smiling. “You’ve saved a lot of lives in the time I’ve known you, and I have some begrudging respect. I’d have more respect if you didn’t seduce old ladies into leaving you into their wills, but still.”

Kurt was gathering some evidence his counterpart here wasn’t the noble thief he had secretly been hoping for, but even he had to admit that the cat-burglar aspect was interesting. But back to the important things - Kitty. Meggan too.

“I said before, I lost my friends. I got word,” he felt it was safer to leave Rachel out of this, as she would add some complication - many levels of it - to what was already gearing up to be a difficult conversation. “That they had been taken by some unseen forces to the Hellfire Club. Not knowing what to expect, I went. It was… it was lot.” The image of the woman who had cheered him on while flat on her back came back to him unbidden. The memory was tinged with the soft familiar feeling of Kitty, the subject of that quick conversation, and he couldn’t quite extricate the two. The woman on the chaise lounge morphed in his mind’s eye into Kitty, flushed, the person between her legs looking a little too familiar with his curly blue hair. He physically shook his head to dislodge the thought and the tightness in his shoulders. She was his friend and it was inappropriate. Just a friend.

“What did you see there?”

“Too much.” He scoffed.

“Hmm…” She tilted back her head to study him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Kurt could have sworn that came from telepathy. Or that she was picking up on surface thoughts somehow. He knew better than to joke with her about it.

“I saw an… er, a very adult party, Detective. People seemed to be enjoying themselves,” at times too much, “but I was focused on finding my friends. So I didn’t stick around to study what was going on.”

Detective Grey just took one last long drag of her cigarette and crushed it on the table when she’d run it down to the filter. She blew the remaining smoke out of the corner of her mouth and waited a moment before looking him in his eyes. “You’ll admit you are a unique man, will you not? And unfortunately I am bound to investigate when the identical twin of one of my more difficult CI’s shows up precisely in the place I am already investigating.”

“I… I admit that doesn’t look good.”

“No, Kurt, it does not. But if you are who you say you are, there’s no way for you to have known that.”

“Ja!” Finally it seemed like she might be believing him.

“They just let you in?”

Rachel influencing the bouncer to let them both in didn’t really seem to be a way to ingratiate himself to Detective Grey, so he left it at a simple “Yes.” Lying was easier in English, as he had to think harder about the words anyway and nothing slipped in by accident.

“If you were to return, could you report back to me what you see?”

“Of course, I wish to help in any way I can. But Detective, I truly need to find my friends.”

Detective Grey just nodded, seemingly in thought. “Tell me more about why you think they were there.”

Kurt jumped at the chance to get back on track. He described the train station they had arrived in, a little about the train and his friends, but mostly about the flash of light and their disappearance. He told her about the malfunctioning holograms and walking through the city to get to the Hellfire Club. She listened calmly, her face set in stone.

“Underneath the club is a disused train station, they’ve been using it for smuggling we believe. It was shut down for the same reason as the train station you saw, the tech was malfunctioning badly enough it would have cost the city millions to replace. I’m starting to think perhaps Shaw and them sabotaged it to use it for their own devices if it’s still moving trains through.” She shook her head and tapped her fingers on the table. “I need to make some calls.”

Detective Grey stood suddenly, scraping her chair back. She started towards her hat over the camera before flicking her eyes over to Kurt. He could see her look up his body, her eyes following some unseen pattern. She looked angry, and got closer to him to place a surprisingly gentle hand on his shoulder. Confused, her turned to look at her face, his head tilted up towards her but his shoulders still locked forward with his hands cuffed to the table.

“Who did this to you?” Her fingers grazed the tape that locked his tail to his leg so uncomfortably.

“I don’t know, he was in the van that brought me to the station. He was pretty rough.”

She tsked, and squatted down to get closer to it. “I’ll have his fucking badge.” Her words were low and full of anger, but her hands surprisingly cool and soft on his now sore tail. She peeled some of the tape off of itself but stopped when she got to his blue fur. They had wrapped the length of his tail in bandages to keep the tape from sticking to it, but the tip hadn’t been so lucky. As lightly as she could, Detective Grey began peeling back the tape, unfortunately taking some hair with it too. Kurt sucked in breath in and gritted his teeth, she was slow but it hurt like hell. When she’d gotten the worst of it off his tail, she ripped the rest quicker and his tail swung free finally.

He stretched the kinks out of it, then inspected the tip. Delightful, he looked piebald in a large square patch across the spade and slightly down the length of it.

“Sorry about that,” the Detective threw away the offending tape in a small garbage bin in the room. “That was excessive. I’ll have them bring you back to holding while I make the calls.” In one fluid motion she had her hat and duster back on and was out of the door.

Kurt was escorted back to his holding cell by two unarmed policemen. They uncuffed him and he stepped nimbly into the empty cell, calculations on how to disarm the police officers drying up as he began to understand just how outnumbered both he and Rachel were. No matter how much he concentrated to attempt a teleport, the power just would not come back to him. That damned aerosolized inhibitor still flowed through his system.

He could see Rachel fuming in her own cell across from him. The other women clustered together on the opposite side of the cell from her, carefully not looking in her direction.

“Where the hell were you?” Taking her elbows off her knees, she leaned back and crossed her arms. Kurt could see her through the bars of their cells, she was practically radiating frustration. He sighed and rested his head between two bars, his arms resting on a cross bar below.

With a sigh, he said “they took me in for questioning.”

“Well, you’re certainly a questionable guy right now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” His eyes snapped over to her.

“You tell me.” She met his eyes with a challenge.

The other women in her cell were watching the two of them like hens, clucking under their breath and heads on a swivel. Rachel remained seated with her arms crossed, but Kurt was certainly taken aback. Was this about not meeting her doppelganger again? Detective Grey hadn’t mentioned having any kids, and he hadn’t wanted to mess with whatever kind of shaky truce they had established by asking.

“Rachel. Seriously. What is that supposed to mean?” Right then he decided not to tell her about Detective Grey yet. Not until she spat out whatever was on her mind.

“It’s not my place to say.”

“Clearly you do have something to tell me though. You mentioned Kitty earlier, is that what this is about?”

“What do you think?” Her eyes simmered with unexpressed emotion.

“I think I’m missing something! I think I miss her and Meggan and even verdammt Brian!”

“Your eyes are so focused on everything else, I’m surprised that you even remember their names.”

“That is not fair, Rachel. Of course I am worried about my teammates. I worry about where they are right now, I worry about their wellbeing.” In his frustration, he buried his face in his hands.

“Maybe I’m not being fair, but your head has been elsewhere these days and you aren’t seeing what’s right in front of you. Any woman that throws herself at you, you take. What happened with that blonde back on Barsoom before you came to rescue us? Even here, what happened at the Hellfire Club? You would have seen the cops coming a mile away if you had paid attention.”

“I do not want to talk about… the blonde. That goes both ways, Rachel. You could have sensed something but it seems like you were just watching me make mistakes.”

“I was watching you. I’ve never seen you like this. You’re just open to whatever comes your way, there’s no critical thinking involved at all,” she jabbed a finger in his direction. “I saw what happened back at the club. She just crooks her finger at you and you float over to her like you’re possessed.”

“Rachel! This is…” he pulled his hands away from his face, just looking down at his blue feet. “This is the first time I’ve ever been anywhere that I’m just… average. Mostly,” to those that didn’t mistake him for his doppelganger that is. “I’m a no one here. Do you know how that feels?”

“To be a no one?” She scoffed. “I know what that feels like, yes.”

“No, I’m not talking about it in a bad way. Clearly… clearly you have some feelings about this. You don’t have to talk about it. But before -“ he held up a hand to shush her as she opened her mouth to interrupt him, “before you say anything, please, see it from my perspective. I can’t even use the metaphor see it from my shoes because they don’t make shoes for me! I have always been different, I know what I look like. I know how I’m seen. But here… I blend in here. I’m seen as handsome, like a normal man. But I don’t have to trade in the things I value of myself to be normal. I can be myself and still seen as just another person. A person! Not a demon, not the devil, not something unclean to destroy. That is the difference.”

There was a nearly imperceptible change in the direction of Rachel’s furrowed brow that showed her anger was quieting. She looked at him, her eyes shining. His heart beat wildly in his chest as she watched him.

Rachel shook her head. “There is no saying like ‘see it from my shoes.’ Maybe ‘walk a mile in my shoes’…”

“Verdammt Englisch… you know what I mean.”

Rachel just shook her head, her eyes falling to the ground. In the silence, one of the other women piped up, “Ooh sweetness you ain’t a no one, you a handsome man, baby, that’s true.”

Another followed with “he a looker, yes’m.”

Rachel’s snapped over to their direction and in clipped tones she said “kindly stay out of it.” The women just nodded, their eyes shifting back and forth from Rachel and Kurt.

Looking back over at Kurt, she said “Fine, I see that. But you are slowly becoming no one on the team. You don’t see anything that’s happening.”

Kurt just about exploded with that. What was she even talking about? His eyes felt open for the first time in a long time, and he could see himself as the man he’d always known himself to be. Not as the odd one out. Finally people around him just accepted him, he didn’t have to work extra hard to be seen as a man or be considered human, and even at that, a lesser human somehow because of the way he looked. It felt more like Rachel was blind to what was going on for him. “Fein! Tell me what is happening. Because clearly, I cannot see. Just as you cannot see me.”

Rachel just glowered in his direction. “I can see you fine, Kurt. I can see you, and I can see Kitty, and I can see how awkward it is.”

Now Kurt was taken aback. “Kätzchen? Was?”

Rachel’s jaw worked as she thought. Finally she shook her head and said, “I really am sorry. It’s not my place. But please talk to Kitty.”

All of the tension drained out of Kurt’s shoulders. “Ja, I will. I promise.”

There was only a moment’s respite from Rachel’s ire before one of the police men came back. Purposefully mispronouncing his name, they announced he had a visitor.

“Was?”

“Yeah, she paid your bail too, lucky dog.” The officer unlocked the door to the cell, and pulled Kurt through. The other officer just chewed his gum and nodded, grunting.

“She’s hot as hell man, I gotta go to one of these Hellfire ‘private events’ too if I wanna pick up a lil mama like that.” He laughed roughly.

Disoriented, Kurt tried to stand his ground. “Nein, I can’t leave without my friend.”

“Sorry champ, it doesn’t work like that. Let’s process you out of here.”

As he was pulled from the cell, Kurt craned his neck towards Rachel. “I’ll come back for you, I promise.”

Rachel stood and nodded at him as he was pulled from the cell area. The last he saw of her was her sharp side eye at one of the other women who called after him “come back for me too, baby!” The doors swung closed on the uproarious laughter and Rachel’s growl.

In the lobby, Emma Frost stood waiting for him, her arms crossed over her sharp white jacket lapel. What was with this woman and the white? Kurt knew trouble was coming his way as they processed him through their system out to the lobby with Frost. She waited until he was near, then crooked a finger under his fringe belt to pull him closer.

Her lips next to her ear, she whispered “don’t say a damn word until we’re in the limo.”

“Tsk,” Kurt disengaged her hand from his belt. “I cannot leave without my friend. I won’t follow you.”

She met his eyes with a lifted blonde brow. “The friend you were searching for? The brunette? Or the redhead still in holding?”

Silent, Kurt just searched her eyes for something, anything to give him a little more of a hint as to what that meant.

“You will follow me, sir, if you care about those friends.” She stuck her fingers back in his belt with little regard for his comfort and pulled him as she walked out of the precinct’s front door. Kurt could only follow, bewildered but determined to see through whatever lead might bring him closer to his friends. He would come back for Rachel, but he wouldn’t mind a bit of a break from the anger she was showing that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Kurt didn’t have much time to contemplate anything that Rachel had said before Emma Frost pulled him in front of a long white limo floating a foot off the ground. As she opened the door he could see even the interior was white leather with diamond accents, and utterly ridiculous.

Feeling slightly rebellious, despite putting up no resistance to her pulling him to the car, Kurt scoffed “hmmph, when you go for a theme you really stick to it, don’t you?”

Emma removed her fingers from the folds in his belt and brushed a finger along his jawline. “I see what I want and I get it, darling. Get in the damn limo before I cause a scene.” She smiled, her full lips curling upwards but remaining closed. Her fingers found their way to the dip between his jaw and his neck, pressing gently along the grain of his hair. “I promise you,” she leaned closer to him once again. The woman seemed to have no notion of personal boundaries. “You’ll get what you want too.”

Kurt swallowed back whatever weak resistance to her that had been building up in his throat. His memory relived her nails making trails through the hair on his abdomen, her warmth pressed against his front. His shirt was now a little worse for wear from being thrown to the floor, but was open still where Emma had previously had her hands on him.

With a final caress to the cup of his pointed ear, she turned and ducked her head to get into the limo. In bending forward, the white suit jacket she was wearing as a dress rode up to reveal not only was she not wearing pants, but nothing else besides a thin strip of white silk between her legs. His eyes strayed from the parts of his brain telling him to look away, following her muscular upper thighs and the dimple in her cheek as it disappeared into the limo. As she sat, she artfully rearranged the suit jacket to cover between her legs, in a way that would have been modest if Kurt didn’t now know she wore nothing but a g-string underneath. The small logical part of him that hadn’t fled his brain with the rest of the blood wondered how truly uncomfortable it must be to walk around wearing only that.

Emma held out a hand for him to take, her fingers curling around his thick blue ones and pulling him in behind her. He took the seat opposite her, the long bench at a 90 degree angle from where she sat. Emma released his hand and closed the car door behind him. She looked at him expectantly has the limo lurched forward and up, gliding through the air.

Kurt leaned back, attempting to sit comfortably. Looking around the limo, it was lit internally with warm lights that ran under the paneling. None of the seats had seatbelts, and the bar at the opposite end held martini glasses and a very expensive looking half full whiskey bottle. He took a breath, and shook his head briefly. This day had been surreal, a real emotional rollercoaster. Sitting next to Emma Frost it could only get weirder.

“Am I going to regret this?” He looked over at her. Her sharp blue eyes had been studying him as he looked around the limo.

“I don’t believe so.” She leaned back herself, one leg folded over the other, incidentally getting closer to his knee. “In fact, I believe we have similar values. I think we could help one another.”

Kurt couldn’t quite figure out how to sit on the seat and have his tail comfortably fold into the leather. He shifted onto one hip to look more closely at Emma, his previously cramped tail swinging out behind him to nervously wrap around his ankle. Emma didn’t break her unwavering look into his golden eyes as he shifted, merely raising an eyebrow in his discomfort.

Kurt cleared his throat and ran his hands down the suede of his pants. “Help each other,” he repeated.

“Indeed.”

“You… you mentioned my brunette friend.”

“I did.”

Kurt blinked at Emma slowly, barely holding himself back from rolling his wrists in a ‘go on’ motion. She merely flicked her eyes finally away from his own to look down his body. He could feel the hot trail of her focus light on his lower lip, then follow the dip of his collarbone down to the dark patch of hair on his abs revealed by his open shirt. She licked her lips, her gaze slowly smoldering back up again to his eyes.

“I understand you to be a very loyal man,” the toe of her shoe trailed softly up his leg to tuck itself into the back of his knee. “A loyal man who knows his own worth. We have that in common. I’m a very loyal woman to those who prove themselves worthy to that loyalty. As well, I certainly know my worth.” Her foot kept moving north up his inner thigh. He gasped, his fingers digging into his own thighs as she pressed her high heel between his legs, her ice blue eyes locked onto his warm golden ones.

“I’m not the man you know, although that’s certainly a compliment to him” Kurt could barely keep the waver from his voice, her long leg stretched out between his own. He wrapped his fingers around her ankle to try and relieve some of the pressure on his rapidly hardening member. She just pressed on, her voice even and businesslike as though she wasn’t currently feeling him up.

“Not only do I know my own worth, Kurt, I acknowledge and respect yours. I think our discussion will be mutually beneficial.” She wrapped her hands around his other hand, the one he had been tightly gripping his own thigh with. She pulled his hand to her face to kiss him softly between his two large knuckles.

Words absolutely failed Kurt. The physical stimulation of her foot between his thighs, the sharp point of her thin heel pushed nearly into the back of one of his ass cheeks, she had it pressed up so far. Her fingers caressing his own, her pert lips kissing the pressure point on his inner wrist. She was flushed across her nose and cheeks, a stark contrast to her pale complexion. Mutually beneficial indeed.

She took his thumb in her mouth, and he could feel her tongue swirl over the sensitive pad. She released his thumb with a pop, but left it on her lower lip. Kurt flexed his thumb to pull her lips apart, his fingers wrapped around her face to glide over her jaw.

His voice was thick, but quiet as he leaned closer to her. “And what is it that you want?”

“I’ll show you when we get there,” she smiled around his thumb. Kissing it again, she said, ”just wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The blonde on Barsoom is Anjulie, where some weird, possibly bad things happened between her and Kurt. He wakes up naked in her hot tub and she terrorizes her servants. He has to search for his teammates who are in even worse conditions, being held captive. Did not seem like a particularly pleasant memory of his. So let's give him a much better memory of a much different blonde. (He certainly seems to like his blondes in the comics!) Bear in mind next chapter will be much more explicit, and I recommend skipping to the end of the next chapter for the reunion if you are uncomfortable with two adults consensually enjoying each other.


	6. Whipped For Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the most explicit so far, reader beware. Everything is consensual and practice safe sex, so on and so forth. If you're waiting for the team to be reunited and don't have time for sexy nonsense, skip to the end.

Kurt felt as though the world was in a haze as he followed Emma Frost through the back entrance to the Hellfire Club. They avoided the ballroom, the back hallways were quiet, immaculate, and most importantly absolutely devoid of people. Emma had her fingers clasped through his own, she strode purposefully, the pace of her long legs making him nearly skip alongside her. She stopped suddenly in front of a door, making him bump into her. She sighed, leaning back against him, her hair on his lips and tickling inside his shirt. She released his hand to caress the side of his face, her fingers following the line of his cheekbone. As he turned to attempt to kiss her fingers, she opened the otherwise nondescript door and pulled him inside after her.

The room itself was not white, as he was half expecting. Everything in it was lit by a soft pink light, the loveseats and bed covered in soft looking fabrics. Even the art on the wall was draped in soft fabric, the only object in the room to not have softened corners was a cut glass statue sitting on top of a glossy ebony piano.

Emma kicked her heels off, using the wall as a balance. Kurt found himself drawn to the translucent statue, something about it seemed familiar. As he got closer he realized what it was - a carved sculpture of Emma herself, reclining in the nude. Kurt laughed, picking it up to turn around. It sparkled in the light, he could see the blue of his hands through her naked figure. Of course.

Emma padded up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest. “Spoilers,” she chuckled as she pressed her nose into his back. “Ooh! That is not good,” she slid her hands along his hairy belly to dip into his belt and pulled his shirt free.

Kurt bit back a moan at her hands suddenly on him, her soft curves pressed against his back. He let her pull his shirt off, her hands skirting over his shoulders along the grain of his hair. He had known fairly early on as a sexually active young man that he was more sensitive than other men - judging solely by the delighted surprise of his partners - but often these partners didn’t realize this their first time with him, and would move his hair in the wrong direction or pull at his tail. Uncomfortable at best, and painful at the worst, it was something he was used to fielding in the bedroom. Although Emma seemed to have some experience, as she petted his chest and shoulders, smoothing his hair down with her hands and tongue. He sighed into each caress, which only seemed to spur on her exploring hands.

“This simply won’t do,” she released him briefly to take his now discarded shirt to the door and place it in the hall. “Here, sit.” Coming back, she guided him to the center bench in the room, the back of it reaching tall, nearly up to the ceiling. It didn’t have arm rests, but Kurt didn’t mind, he simply slid his hands up under Emma’s white jacket to find what little underwear she had on. As he sat, he wondered if she really had had experience with someone like himself, the back of the bench began at its base high enough that his tail could swing out free behind him as he sat.

His nose tucked squarely between her breasts as she massaged his shoulders, he said “I’ll want that shirt back.”

“Of course darling, but it smells of inhibitor, which, as I said, simply won’t do. In fact,” at this point she was straddled on his lap, his hands brushing up the jacket to squeeze at her ample behind. “I believe you will need to remove your pants as well so that we can wash the full outfit. Your powers will return sooner if the agent isn’t still active in your clothing.”

Kurt looked up at her face, mere inches away from his own. He hadn’t realized that. “I didn’t realize that. Where can I wash them?”

A strange look passed over her face before she visibly dismissed it. “My dear, we have people for that.” She pressed her lips softly to one of his cheekbones and disengaged from his lap. Kurt grasped the strange bar that seemed to be part of the back of the bench to hoist his hips up as Emma ran her hands down his sides to untie his belt. She gazed lustfully at the darker indentation of his bellybutton as she smoothed the suede fabric over his hips. His hardness was caught in the fabric, and she ran one fingernail up the underside to free him before entirely removing his pants. Kurt’s breath hitched, her every move felt calculated to turn him into jelly.

As she deposited his belt and pants on top of his shirt outside the room, she turned to look at him, now seated nude, his legs wide and his arms at rest on his thighs as he gazed back at her. Her look was intoxicating. He had truly never been under such focused scrutiny by such a beautiful woman before. She studied every sign of enjoyment he gave, his breath as she touched him, his eyes as she sucked on his thumb. Her determination to explore every inch of his blue pelt made him determined in turn to show her just how mutually beneficial this could be.

She stood in front of him, her hands on the series of buttons down the front of her jacket. His hands reached up to caress her bare legs. “Do you have a safe word?”

Kurt laughed. “Was, a safe word? Whatever for?”

“To be safe, darling.” She unbuttoned one button. “Sometimes, when people are really enjoying themselves, they make noises that sound like no, when really they mean yes.” She undid a second button. “A safe word means that I will stop your torture,” a third and the fourth final button came undone, but she held the jacket closed, “all you have to do is pick it. Mine is ‘carbon.’”

She held the jacket closed as Kurt considered this. His thoughts filtered through places that he felt most safe. It was difficult, to think of comforting places that he considered safe, as those places were connected to people he loved, people who he felt vaguely uncomfortable with thinking about while rock hard, naked, his hands on a woman whom he felt certain he would soon prove his competency with. Thinking of all the places he felt safest, in his minds eye the clearest came the lighthouse, sounds of laughter, the taste of breakfast eggs, soft curly brown hair tickling his nose during a movie marathon.

“Lighthouse.”

“Mmm,” she purred, “excellent choice.” She let the jacket finally drop, revealing the silk and lace white thong, the diamond in her bellybutton, and the same necklace she wore before in the party. Kurt had a moment to ponder why it looked familiar before her mouth was on his own, her tongue requesting entrance. He wrapped his arms around her, now once again straddling his blue thighs. Her hands roamed everywhere, following his every sign of enjoyment. He wrapped his tail around her waist, the tip of it - still slightly sore from the tape - cupping underneath one pert breast.

Breathing was becoming difficult and distracting as she sucked enthusiastically at his tongue. He pulled his head back to admire her, his hands moving up from her lower back to run through her blonde hair. He bent to kiss and suck at a nipple, but she caught him off guard by gently pulling his tail up. One of her hands was clenched in the hair at the back of his neck, the other lifted the tip of his tail to her mouth, where she gently kissed the underside of it.

The feeling of her warm breath on the sensitive tip made him twitch under her, his hardness beginning to leak precum. He bit his lower lip, one sharp canine poking out, as her hand returned to caress his chest and her mouth opened to accept the tip of his tail. He could feel her tongue move over him, her teeth barely grazing, the heat inside her mouth nearly unbearable. He moaned openly as she sucked sharply on him.

Huffing, he pulled his tail from her mouth, and she smiled down at him, her lipstick now slightly smeared on the hairless part of the spade. “You know,” she said, running her hands down his shoulders, “I don’t think we had a fair chance earlier, I wanted to revisit our conversation from the party.”

Kurt sighed under her hands. “We weren’t having much of a conversation though, were we?” His thumbs brushed over her lips and her cheeks.

“Not all communication is verbal. Now, where were we?” She placed her own hands over his, and pulled them from her face. Holding his wrists steady, she pulled his arms up over his head to rest against the bar he had earlier used to pick up his hips. Suddenly he heard a popping noise, and she brought her hands back down to his shoulders. He, however, couldn’t move his wrists, as they had been locked into place over his head, one wrist crossing the other.

Looking up, he pulled experimentally. They were really locked in there. The cuffs holding him into place braced his arms fairly far down, and the locking mechanism didn’t look like anything he could stick his tail in to jimmy loose.

“Ah, yes, I remember.” She stood up, using his dumbfounded silence against him. “I was about to torture some information out of you. Detective Grey has her methods, and I,” she winked, “have mine.”

Crossing the room to the wall, she pulled one of the pieces of fabric off of what Kurt had assumed was framed art to reveal a board with black unpleasant looking objects hung on pegs. There were paddles, several different types of riding crops ending in feathers or leather, and a long coiled whip all displayed on the board. She looked at him, smirking, then ran her long fingers over several of the riding crops before selecting one which ended in a heart shaped paddle.

“Was in Himmel?! THIS is your interrogation method?” Kurt pulled sharply at the restraints on his wrists. “This whole world was too good to be true, I knew it, I knew it deep down.” Jiggling the restraints did nothing, it didn’t even shake the bench he was now completely naked and shackled to. “You could just ask me!”

“And what is the fun in that, handsome?” She slid the heart shape end of the crop over her partially open lips, coming closer to him again.

This was some sort of completely messed up karma. He had done something right in his life to be stuck with such a beautiful woman who had - up until recently - been showering him with hot kisses. But he must have done something very, deeply wrong to be locked into place and about to be whipped. Although it was a short crop, perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad. And Kurt had been in worse positions with uglier and more cruel interrogators, so who was he to complain, really. Rachel was right, he had felt the pressure of Emma’s lips on him and simply followed her into one of the most insane traps he’d ever been in. What would Logan think?

Honestly, Logan would be egging him on if he knew.

Kurt almost wished he was here right now just for some clarity. He could just picture Logan, his deep voice, the smoke exhaled from his cigar, telling him to accept himself for what he was - a man.

Emma simply arched a brow at him as she got closer. She ran the heart shaped leather tip of the crop up his side, pushing his fur in the wrong direction and sending electric sparks through just about every nerve ending. She pushed the end into the indentation between his jaw and neck, and leaned in close enough he could feel her hot breath on his other ear.

“Why were you at my party?” Her tongue flicked on his earlobe as she used the crop to smooth down the hair she had riled up over his ribcage again.

Kurt was panting, his lips parted, straining at the bar holding his wrists in place. “I already told you, looking for my friends.”

“I don’t believe you.” She abruptly leaned back, walked behind where Kurt was restrained and with a sharp crack, snapped the riding crop on his bare ass.

It hurt, but more so it was surprising. It felt like every hair stood on end on his body, his tail rigid, and as suddenly as the pain had come, it receded, only leaving endorphins in its place. Kurt let out a breathy chuckle and sagged his body back on the bench, relaxing the muscles that had gone taught as he was spanked. Emma used her hand to gently pet down his back and smooth down the hair that was sticking up, rubbing gently at the cheek she’d just smacked. Her fingers found the sensitive underside of his tail where it split from his body and rubbed, causing his breath to quicken once more.

Biting back a moan at the sensation of her fingers rubbing at one of his most sensitive spots, Kurt said “what do you want from me? I’m telling you the truth, I’m -- ooohh…” Thought fled briefly when her hot tongue found its way behind his ear.

She whispered into the cup of his pointed ear, “I told you, you owe me. Did you come to repay that debt or steal from me again?”

“I’m not the man you think I am,” Kurt pulled his now over sensitive ear away from her mouth to look at her in the eyes. “I’m not from here, I’m not who you think I am. I came here from another world.”

“Is that so?” Her eyes were downcast at him, watching the glow from his golden eyes through her eyelashes. She licked her lips, sending a shiver down Kurt’s spine. Her ice blue eyes seemed to look through him, studying him, he once again realized had never felt such intense scrutiny from such a beautiful and naked woman. She was clearly enjoying herself, a blush spread over her face and bare breasts. His eyes rested briefly on the huge diamond hanging from the silver necklace she wore, and it hit him finally - it was the same as Detective Grey’s.

Emma moved back again and with a snap, spanked him again with the crop, but harder this time. He didn’t have a moment to register her movement, just the line of pain, receding not quite quickly enough before she whipped him again on his other cheek. Kurt moaned, it was too much - the lines where the crop hit him faded from painful to simply sore as Emma smoothed her hand over his ass.

She paused as he caught his breath. Snapping his eyes over to her once more, he glared. “You are trying to get me to talk because you cannot read my mind, Emma. I recognize the telepathy inhibitor.”

Emma cocked her head and looked at him. She ran the riding crop up between her pert breasts until it rested against her pursed lips. She tapped it against herself twice before once again saying, “is that so?”

Her eyes flashed and Kurt felt something cool spread in the back of his head. It felt like taking a sip of cold water on a hot day, perhaps minty and fizzy, and suddenly he was harder than he thought he could ever be. Mental hands stroked him, he could feel it so strongly in his mind that he could almost picture her hands physically touching him.

Kurt moaned loudly, his head thrown back and his lips open to show his fangs. He felt her mental touch recede and the tightness in his lower belly screamed at him for release. “See,” she said, “I told you this could be mutually beneficial. We can both have fun if you - hey!”

Emma watched mouth agape as Kurt tensed his abs and pulled his legs up to the wrist restraints that held him. Now bent in half and dangling from the upper bar, his slender feet gripped tightly and he tried to use the new leverage to attempt to pull his arms free. No matter how he yanked, the restraints held him tightly. His tail whipped behind him for balance as he struggled with it briefly then gently unfolded and lowered himself to the bench again. Feeling petulant, he glared at Emma.

Her mouth was still open, gawping at him. “I will admit, I have… not seen that before.” She tapped the crop on her lips once more. Kurt brought his tail up and slowly wrapped it around the handle, holding her eyes with his own as he did so. “That might have been the hottest thing I’ve seen in that ch- hey!” Again he took her off guard by using his tail to rip the crop out of her hands and throw it across the room.

On the release Kurt’s tail whipped behind him again and he set his chin. “If you want hot or mutually beneficial, untie me and I can show you what I can really do.”

Emma stood beside him, her hands now on her hips, her beautiful breasts mere inches from his face. “No,” she tapped the tip of his nose with a white nail.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean no, Kurt, I won’t release you until I’ve had my own release.” At that she slid herself over his lap, her legs on either side of his him, her breasts at face height. She didn’t even try to get the crop he’d thrown across the room, instead just running her hands along his sensitive rib cage. She pressed her lips slowly to the side of his mouth, testing briefly with her tongue before he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Her tongue was hot against his, her lips sucking at him, her hips grinding into his own. He pulled at the restraints once more, nearly desperate to wrap his arms around her. His mind flashed short snapshots of each time he’d had such a gorgeous woman in his arms - the time Anneka Jorgenson had kissed him behind the elephant cage when he was in his teens, moments in Amanda’s apartment after he’d confirmed that he was indeed the devilishly handsome man she knew, even Anjulie in the hot tub before he’d realized she was bad news. There was something about the feeling of a hot body pressed against his own, hands running over his shoulder blades, his stomach, the feeling of another heart beat against his own. Even chaste moments where he held a team mate during a teleport, or movie night, Kitty’s back to his front during sword fight scenes. He lived for that touch when it came, cherished it, as it happened far too infrequently.

She released him with a final suck on his bottom lip, getting up. His lap was damp with her need of him, slick where he wanted to be touched the most. Kurt’s intense feeling of withdrawal from her hands and the weight of her muscular legs was thankfully short lived, as she simply turned around, lowered herself onto his lap once more with her back against his hard chest. His hair tickled her, between her legs and up her spine, creating a delightful friction as she ground herself on him.

Reaching down between her own legs, she gripped Kurt’s length in one hand and used the new leverage to grind herself more fully against him. It felt heavenly, but deeply frustrating that he couldn’t hold her in his arms. His tail could, though, and did its best by winding around her ribs to flick one nipple.

Emma was panting, her head thrown back between his face and his raised arm. Her blonde hair fell down his back as she moved, her hot breath on his ear. She bit him softly, and trailed her tongue up the sensitive point. “I’m starting to believe you darling, but I’m also starting to care less and less you aren’t the person I thought you were.”

“What changed your mind about me,” he groaned as she moved on him.

“Your natural shields go down when your emotions are heightened.” Her fingers tightened around his cock as she moved her hips against him. Her ass was pressed into his lower belly, her spare hand wrapped around him to scratch his back. It was true, he barely had enough blood in his brain to process her words, all of his thoughts lingering on feeling her against and around him. “I see places in your mind that don’t exist, little island lighthouses with other worlds in the basement. I’ve never seen that before in your head.”

“You read my doppelgangers mind on the regular?” He nipped her ear.

“Only when he asks nicely. You share the same thinking, which makes me believe you aren’t the Kurt I know, but still Kurt.” She breathed heavily in his ear when his tail found its way up her neck to caress her ear. “Two identical blue men who think in maps? What are the odds? And you didn’t know about washing the inhibitor out, every mutant worth their salt knows that.”

Kurt let the inhibitor comment slide, his brain solely focused on the hips grinding against his own. Autopilot made him say, “Think in maps?”

“Yes darling, I can follow your little roads, open the little doors, peek in the little rooms in there. Sometimes you jump in your head like a teleport when you’re reminded of something.” She gave a breathy chuckle. “My Kurt would jump to all his favorite gems when I was in his head, showed me all the little glittery things I reminded him of.”

So she was in his mind then? Kurt thought hard about what he wanted to do to Emma. His strong arms around her, holding her steady as he rocked into her. Smoothing down her hair, or touching her face, he thought about wanting his tail around her, inside her, the sensitive tip finding her own sensitive parts. She purred and rocked back on him again. Kurt imagined kissing more than just the parts of her he could reach, but spreading her open on the bed behind them to kiss everywhere.

“What a good idea darling.” Fizzy cold spread once again behind his temples, and he felt not just Emma’s hot body in his arms but something warm, hard but pliant, pressed to his back, and the most breathtaking feeling between his legs. It took him a moment to realize she was sharing her sensations, and the renewed moaning as she ground her clit on his length meant she could feel what he could too. Part of him felt it was karma for locking his hands into place, as his thick fingers would have added so much more to the occasion.

Instead he brought his tail back up to wrap around her. The feeling was intense. His tail was sensitive on a good day, but now he could not only feel her silky skin against the length of it, but could also feel her enjoyment of the serpentine muscle against her ribs. The most odd sensation, and one of the most titillating, was being able to feel the way his fur felt against skin. It was heavenly, and nothing like anything he had experienced before. Kurt couldn’t begin to describe the differences, as he had no frame of reference for what it felt like to touch or be touched without the thick layer of blue that covered him. But to feel that impossible velvet brushing against himself, along with the friction of an ample backside against his lower belly.

This all was on top of the feeling of her hand on his member, stroking him and grinding her clit against him. Her fingers played with the underside, touching him everywhere, stroking down his shaft to briefly explore his balls. He felt a sensation building in a part of him he had never experienced, internally, the friction of the head of his length on her clit creating waves of pleasure that were near to overwhelming. He wanted to be inside of her, moving his hips in tandem, but wasn’t sure if he could handle the resulting telepathic feedback.

Emma was clearly getting a lot of enjoyment out of the combination of feelings as well. She was loudly meaning in his ear, her head thrown back against his shoulder. The combination of her soft skin and tight grip on him with his fur tickling between her legs and hardness slick against her clit was bringing them both close to finishing. Emma tensed, moaning wantonly against Kurt, one hand wrapped around his shoulder and clenched in the hair on his back. He could feel her orgasm build, a tightening inside of him he’d never felt before. His own orgasm came swiftly on the heels of hers, pulsing in waves of release.

Emma could feel him twitch against her, new warmth on her arm and hand where he came. The telepathic feedback let her feel every bit of his orgasm on top of her own, her overly sensitive core slick against his still rock hard cock pushed her onwards over the edge once again. Kurt had never experienced multiple orgasms personally, and could barely gasp out a breath as he felt her second one - together their third - build and crash in waves once again. After his own release, his analytical mind began to return to him, and now sitting lax, he could only wonder at the profundity of the sensations she was sharing with him.

Kurt sagged in the restraints, completely spent. Emma laid back against his chest, panting and flushed. She moved her hand up to run through his hair as he pressed his face into her neck. Peppering her with kisses was all he had in him to do. She just chuckled, and nuzzled him back. “You just… feel so much, Kurt,” she sighed into the side of his face.

Kurt didn’t have an answer for that. He did, but that was what he was used to, he didn’t know any other way to be. Being able to feel what she felt had been amazing - nearly too much at times, bringing him to the edge and keeping him there. It was, perhaps Emma’s intention, most likely not, a huge confidence boost - to feel, to know absolutely, that he was doing the right things to bring a woman to completion was something he would hold onto for life. And to know it felt just as good on her for him to use his tail was a secret he had long suspected but now had indelible proof.

Emma sighed once more and slowly picked herself up off of him. She reached up, pulled at something just out of his line of sight, and his arms were suddenly free. He rubbed his wrists, tried to playfully glare at her, but only managed to smile goofily in his post orgasmic bliss. She laughed and shook her head.

“You really could have just asked me here,” Kurt stretched to pop his hips. He ran his hands up her sides.

“Darling, really, what would be the fun in that?”

Kurt thought that maybe it would have been more fun to use his hands on her, at which she just smirked at him and shrugged. He kissed her stomach briefly before standing to join her. “Get what you needed in this torture session?” He asked, tucking one blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, flushed across her face and chest. A smile played across her lips, and once more Kurt felt a now familiar bubbling cold, like champagne, sparkling at the back of his head. His limbs felt heavy, comfortable despite standing, his fingers tingled like they were in the champagne spreading in his head. It all made his heart feel light. He took that as a resounding yes. Not that he had answered any of her questions, and he certainly hadn’t been any help to Detective Grey, but he felt good. Emma felt very good, judging by the fizz still tickling his brain.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, almost regretfully. “This was a very good time, my dear.” She put one hand on his furry chest. “I would like to repeat it, but like my Kurt here, I followed the wrong pathways and saw too much.” She tapped his chin with a nail. Emma sighed, and turned from him to walk to the wall again and pick up another sheer robe to put over her nudity. “Somehow it’s always my luck to find men with their hearts promised to another.” She shrugged, looking coyly over her shoulder at him, “but sometimes I don’t care.” She winked at him, and moved to open the door.

Kurt barely had time to cover himself with his hands before she cracked the door open and she spoke to someone on the other side. A pair of hands handed her some folded cloth and she just as quickly shut the door again.

“Here you are darling,” she pressed the pile of cloth back into his hands.

It was his clothes - the white shirt looked even whiter than before, and suede of his pants nearly pristine. They smelled better, and all the grime that he’d collected from being arrested was gone entirely. How they’d done it so fast he wasn’t sure.

“So,” Emma leaned one hip against the piano and fiddled with the glass statue of herself, setting it just so to catch the light. “I’ve put the call out for your friend at the station.” She tapped her temple at the word ‘call.’ “I could see… I could feel her importance to you. And the other two.”

Kurt just stood there nude, his clothes clenched in one fist, trying to process. He didn’t try to cover himself, the blood hadn’t fully returned to his brain yet, and he was stuck trying to comprehend it all. Whatever her convoluted motives, she had helped him a lot with reuniting with Rachel, that was good. He had certainly had a mostly good time - the welts on his behind was slowly fading.

He licked his lips, sluggishly trying to catch up. “My heart belongs to another? It belongs to me, I get to decide who I give it to.”

Emma was still leaning on the piano, one long leg out of her robe to keep balance. She just smiled and shook her head. “It’s ok, Kurt. You keep it locked up, but these things always find their way out.”

“Hmmn.” Kurt ran his hand through his hair, not quite sure how to respond.

“Put on your clothes before she gets here, and I’ll show you the little train station in the basement. Ah-“ She held up a finger as he was beginning to realize just how open a book he’d been for her. “Say ‘thank you, Emma.’”

Kurt let out a soft chuckle and crossed the room to be closer to her once again. “Thank you, Emma, but not for that.” He pressed as chaste a kiss he could on her cheek for being altogether naked. “I did enjoy myself quite a bit.”

“As did I,” she purred, “but I think you knew that.”

He cupped her face with his free hand for a last kiss. Kurt quickly skinned into his tight pants, wishing he could have some sort of bath as soon as possible, but thankful for the clean clothes. Emma just watched him unabashed as he tucked in his shirt and retied his belt.

“You’re a walking strip tease, even as you put on clothes,” she said ponderously.

At this another club member knocked on the door, poked her head in and nodded at Emma. Just as quickly, she was yanked out with a barely suppressed yelp and Rachel flung the door wide.

“Took you damn long enough,” were her first words at being reunited. “It’s been hours.”

“Negotiations went long,” Emma tilted her head at Rachel, completely unashamed that her see-through robe created absolutely no modesty. “It was long and hard, but I think we came to an agreement.” She grinned at Kurt. He could only choke back an embarrassed scoff. He had not realized the length of time he’d been with her.

“I know you were sent by the detective to get information on my enormous criminal empire,” Emma flicked her fingers at them, shooing the two of them away. “It’s the last door on the left, you can see the old abandoned train station that we’re using for storage and tell your little friend all the crime you find down there. Although,” she touched his shoulder lightly, “tell your friend my necklace doesn’t work and you’ll wake up thinking nothing is sexier than licking my shoes clean each morning.”

Rachel left with one last lingering look over Emma’s sheer robe before following Kurt out into the hallway.

“Necklace doesn’t work?” She said as they’d made it further into the vast hallway, no one else in sight.

Where to even start? “It’s a long story,” Kurt rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. It was a great story, but one he didn’t quite feel comfortable telling yet. Rachel had chewed him out for less than he’d actually done, and much as he felt justified in his actions, it didn’t feel like the right time or place.

She apparently was also feeling a bit contrite after her jail time. “I wasn’t sure I believed you’d come back for me after I yelled at you like that.”

Kurt looked at her sharply. “Of course Rachel, I’ll always be there for you.” He meant that, deep down. Rachel was part of his family. Thinking back to their conversation earlier, he said, “Kitty too.”

“I know, I… I’m just struggling with this trip and I guess it’s coming out on you.” Rachel nodded up ahead. “I think this is the door.”

Kurt put his hand on the knob, but turned to look direct at Rachel. “I get it. And I hear you, I will speak to her.”

“Yeah… thank you. I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. And I’m here if you want to talk about your experiences. I guess I wasn’t trying to see it, hah, from your shoes. I uh… I got a bit of an education from the other women in the cell about the history of visible mutants here. I wasn’t seeing how hard it was.”

“Thank you… that’s… thank you, Rachel.” He paused a moment in thought. That might be the first time he’d heard some one say that. It bore thinking about, but it didn’t seem like the time for it. They could both see a glow emanating from the bottom of the staircase, visible the moment they opened the door.

“Sure.” She placed a surprisingly comforting hand on his shoulder as they descended the rickety stairs together. “So how did you get Emma Frost to bail me out too?”

Kurt glanced over his shoulder to give what was hopefully a charismatic grin and not the goofy one he’d given Emma earlier. “Oh, I have my ways. And she told me how to get rid of the spray inhibitor, she washed my clothes.”

“She washed the clothes you’re wearing right now?” Rachel just looked down at him, nonplussed. “Uh huh… did you… did you sleep with her? You jackass!” Her warm touch quickly became a sharp jab to his armpit. “That’s just what I was talking about!”

Kurt didn’t have a moment to retort before they hit the basement floor. The glow was coming from the opposite end of the clearly disused station. Their train sat quietly, none worse for wear, pulled up to the ledge like it was meant to be there.

And also there they were - just standing, backs turned to Kurt and Rachel, looking at the train. Like the last nearly full day hadn’t happened at all.

It was Kitty that turned first to see them walking up, Kurt watched her throw her arms out and run towards them almost in slow motion. Her hair bounced against her full smile, the open shirt sliding off her shoulders once again. She nearly knocked the air out of him when she finally ran close enough to grasp him in a hug.

“Kurt! Rachel! I don’t know what happened, there was a flash of light and we were here. How did you find us so quick?” Kitty released him to pull Rachel into a quick hug.

Rachel flashed a grin, but it faltered slightly when Kitty’s words caught up to her. “What do you mean so quick?”

“I just saw you guys get off the train, were you holding on to the outside when we went through the tunnel of light?”

“Nein, Kätzchen, we have been searching for hours.“ Kurt threaded his thick fingers through her curls and brushed her shoulder. “We were worried we wouldn’t find you.”

Brian and Meggan had gotten closer now, Brian laid one large hand over Kurt’s slim shoulder. “Hours you say?”

“Ja, it’s been,” an orgy, he’d been arrested and met a version of Jean Grey, the hair ripped from his tail, spanked with a riding crop then ridden himself by a version of Emma Frost, and he hadn’t eaten anything other than the sip of champagne from the half naked women at the party. “It’s been wild.” His eyes met Rachel’s briefly and she shook her head the tiniest bit.

“We don’t need to talk about it.” Rachel squeezed Kitty’s hand. “I’m just glad we’re back together.”

“I am glad as well,” Brian lifted his hand off of Kurt, “and frankly, I don’t care why there’s a time difference in our experiences, I just want to get out of here. Widget’s making his usual noises, he did not enjoy whatever that hop was we just did. Let’s get back on the train together.”

“Yeah, I think we can use the same method that the other Hank McCoy used to power a Widget jump.” Kitty walked back to the train, a bounce in her step, discussing with Brian ways they could power another jump. Kurt let the banter slip flow over him, welcome and comforting. Kitty’s technical prowess was something he probably would never fully understand, but always felt comforted in her competency. He felt spent, and just wanted to sleep on the train surrounded by his friends now that they were reunited.

Frankly, he never wanted to get separated again. And he was going to try his damnedest to make sure that never happened again.

He got back on the train and sat next to Rachel, who was also exhausted. He placed his unique hand in hers and squeezed gently. Her head reclining on the wall, she looked over at him. He could feel her presence in his mind as a warm spot, hovering just behind his temples, like a bar of sunlight finding him on a summer day. He sent her a thank you, his mind imagining both the scene when they were behind bars, but also her announcement in the hall of the Hellfire club. She could be intense, but she held him accountable.

Rachel just smiled and shook her head. She played for him again the memory of her telling him to speak with Kitty, but from her perspective. He could see his arms resting on the bars of the cell and the frustration she felt at the time. He saw a glimpse of himself again, but elsewhere - it looked like Rachel was looking through the train window at him and Kitty arm and arm, but in the memory Kitty also stood next to her. As he turned to ask her, she got up abruptly and Kitty herself sat in her place.

“Are you ok, Kurt? You look.. hmm… you look a little… ah, you know.” She patted the arm that was resting on his suede pants.

Kurt could only smile at her, he probably did look terribly tired. “I’m better now that you’re here.” He folded his other hand over her own and threaded his thick fingers through her thin white ones. It felt right, natural. He leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, breathing in her smell, the train air, and the relief that they were all back together.

“Ok, we’re ready to jump! Grab a seat,” Brain said loudly. Kurt felt his other arm lift off of Kitty’s hand and Meggan situated herself against his side. He disengaged from Kitty to wrap his arm around her and pull both her and Meggan closer as widget powered up.

Meggan sniffed at him delicately. “I think you need a shower, Kurt.”

He hadn’t heard truer words in his life. They may not be in their home universe yet, but this felt closer to home than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter their clothes finally match their surroundings - and is there a marriage on the horizon? Tune in and find out!


	7. Sir Alistaire's Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! IRL got hard for a moment, but I was ever so slowly working on this in the background. I'm happy to say things have smoothed out enough for me to once again pick up fun activities and come back to AO3. Enjoy!  
> This chapter has a super quick marriage (sort of), jerks and idiots shown what for (a little, I suppose), a bloody fight, but most importantly the beginning of something more.

Kurt had fallen asleep with his arms around Kitty and Meggan, his head fallen far back against the wall, his mouth open. Kitty could only giggle at the soft snoring noises he made, every now and again his snore would get caught in his throat, and he would smack his lips only to fade back to the open-mouthed snore. Seeing one of his fangs protrude from his upper lip as he slept was kind of cute, and only added to the hilarity. She caught Meggan’s eye, who was also stifling giggles on the other side of him.

Meggan and Kitty had been spending the last unknowable amount of time whispering around Kurt, nearly from the moment he fell asleep. Meggan had been petting his chest with one had as they giggled, and while normally Kitty might have felt uncomfortable by Brian’s furtive frustrated glances at the three of them, she was having too much fun to care. It was weird to think that Rachel and Kurt had been away from them for nearly a day (from their perspectives), and it was such a relief to be reunited that she also didn’t care how tight-lipped Rachel was being about their time apart.

“Hey Kitty,” Meggan whispered, her face was mostly obscured by Kurt’s lax head, but Kitty could see one eye twinkle over the bridge of Kurt’s nose. “Watch this!” Meggan cupped one hand around Kurt’s ear and stage whispered “Kurt, you are dreaming of purple elephants! With polka dots! And they are friendly and they love you - ooh! And they fly, just like Dumbo!”

Kitty could barely cover her mouth in time to stifle the noise that erupted. She leaned into Kurt’s other ear and only slightly quieter, whispered, “Kurt, the elephants can talk but they’re only telling boring stories.”

Kurt made no indication he heard anything while asleep, only continued to snore, his head at an uncomfortable angle. Meggan’s giggling was reaching a pitch Kitty was sure he would wake up any moment now.

No longer whispering, Meggan called out “Rachel!” Quickly she turned back to Kitty, slapped her hand over her mouth and laughed once again. Resuming whispering, “Rachel! Rachel, can you look and see if he’s dreaming of purple polka dot elephants?”

Rachel was seated across the aisle from them, Brian having moved a couple rows up to look over the control board. She flicked her eyes up from ‘Henrietta’s Adventures in Amazementworld,’ the pages spread wide enough that Kitty could see the illustrations from her seat. “No,” Rachel didn’t bother to whisper, “just ask him yourself.”

“But he’s asleep!”

“So what? Just flick his Adam’s Apple and he’ll wake right up.”

“No! Rachel!” Meggan just giggled again then turned to whisper more into Kurt’s sleeping ear.

Kitty shook her head, smiling to herself. It was rare to have a moment like this in between all the action lately. Reminded her a little of movie nights back at the Lighthouse, when things would pause enough for a moment of silence and companionship. She sighed, knowing that like everything else, this moment of relaxation would soon enough be over.

Rachel seemed to pick up on it. She closed the book and set it aside, and allowed a little bit of a smile to come to one side of her lips at Meggan’s continued whispered story into Kurt’s sleeping ears.

“I uh… I tried to talk to him a little about the… that one world.” Rachel flashed the cover of ‘Henrietta’s Adventures in Amazementworld’ at Kitty.

“Oh,” Kitty could feel her face go red. She pulled her knees up so that her heels rested on the seat of the bench. She was still tucked into Kurt’s side, his arm relaxed over her shoulder, his hand dangling against her arm. “I don’t know if, uh, now is the best-“

“Oh, he’s way asleep.” Rachel leaned forward and covered her mouth slightly so that Meggan wouldn’t be able to see her lips if she were to look over, “between you and me, he is dreaming of elephants but they’re just making Charlie Brown adult trumpet noises any time he tries to talk to them.” She laughed and sat back.

Kitty just shook her head. “I haven’t really had time to think about it, Rachel. It was kind of embarrassing, I felt like a kid again. Even though she and I were both clearly adults, I mean, she was, you-know-what…” Kitty gestured over her stomach.

“No way! You confirmed that?”

“I mean, I kind of picked up enough to get the gist…” Kitty felt like her face was burning, it was so weird to think about. Too much. She liked Kurt, really liked Kurt, she was beginning to realize how much she maybe even loved Kurt. She’d long had strong feelings of affinity for him, she felt like he was her best friend for so long, the only person she could really rely on both emotionally but also physically if it came to it. He was strong, and had such a big heart. She admired how much time and effort he put in to make sure his friends knew he cared for them as well. But for so long the feelings she had, while deep and strong, were just platonic, and thinking of anything more than platonic felt like opening Pandora’s Box. She hadn’t explored any of it, then suddenly the ultimate culmination of what could be fell into her lap. Well, to be more precise, the example of what could have been more than friendship accidentally felt UP her lap, since that world’s Kurt hadn’t realized she wasn’t his.

The thought that there was a tangible reality that Kitty had actually witnessed with her own two eyes where she and Kurt created life together, had come together in that way, was… too much. Her mind shied away from the thought like touching a hot stove.

“Kitty!” Meggan reached over to gently touch Kitty’s knee. Once she had her attention, she grinned and whispered “watch this.”

Without further ado, she curled her fingers up and brought her hand close to Kurt’s neck to viciously flick his Adam’s Apple. Gasping and coughing, Kurt’s eyes shot open and his knees came up in a bewildered attempt to protect his midsection. Meggan kept patting his chest as he spluttered, and Kitty could only watch as Rachel burst out laughing too.

“Ach, was?” Kurt gathered himself enough to look over at Meggan, who grinned at him widely.

“Were you dreaming, Kurt? What were you dreaming about?” Meggan still had her hand on Kurt’s chest, Kitty couldn’t help but notice. It seemed so relaxed and friendly, casual, sitting there on top of his white shirt. Meggan’s hand rested there, moving up and down with Kurt’s breathing, resting gently with the movements of him laughing as he relaxed his knees back down. Kitty couldn’t help but join Meggan’s hand, placing hers, as casually as she could, just below on his ribcage.

Her eyes were fixed on her hand, her fingertips barely brushing the part of his hairy chest that wasn’t covered by the white shirt, his warmth seeping through to her palm. The moment seemed frozen, her eyes stuck to her hand rising and falling with the movement of his breathing, his hair brushing up between her fingertips.

The spell was broken when she felt the weight of his gaze on her. Looking up, she met his laughing eyes.

“Did you hear me, Kätzchen?“ Kurt’s eyes crinkled as his smile climbed up his face. He moved the hand that had been dangling at her shoulder around to rub at his face. She got trapped in the crook of his arm, feeling his bicep flex as he smoothed the sleep out of his eyes. “I dreamed a little I think but all I remember is my ears getting tickled.” He laughed and released her and Meggan both, moving his arms out from around them in order to stand and stretch.

It was then, of course, the moment ended. As always it was a jarring entrance to the next world. The sudden stop made Kurt fall sideways to the floor of the train, and Kitty and Meggan almost jerk out of their seats. Brian flew through the aisle, holding Widget under one arm. Nearly stepping on Kurt, he ran to the doorway, throwing his weight into it to get it open. Kitty could barely register the panic in Brian’s face as he hurtled onto the grass outside the door. She launched herself after him, quickly followed by Meggan and Lockheed, who had awoken in the commotion.

Outside, Brian flew across the open field directly next to the train only to hurl Widget into the air like a shot-put. Kitty saw Widget arc high in the sky before he promptly exploded, the resultant pressurized wave throwing her back into Meggan and hitting the side of the train.

Dazed, Kitty and Meggan leaned on one another to get upright again as Rachel flew from the open door of the train. “What the hell was that, Brian!”

Brian picked himself up off the ground where he’d been blown to, and spread his arms wide, shouting back at Rachel. “The damn thing exploded, Rachel! The moment we landed he just went nuts, chirping and burping out stuff that was burning the console!”

Rachel shook her head, her mouth agape, as the little figure of Widget - some how still intact - fell back to the earth, where Brian caught him one handed. “What does that mean?”

Brian walked back to where Kitty, Meggan, and Rachel were standing, Kurt having just emerged from the doorway rubbing his head. He turned Widget around in his hands. Widget only blinked and chirped, seemingly peaceful now. “Something set him off, I don’t know.”

“Well, if the people around here didn’t know we were here before now, they certainly do now…” Rachel shook her head. “That explosion was loud, even if it seems to be otherwise harmless.”

Kitty’s ears felt like they had popped, with an unpleasant ringing sensation echoing through her head. Wiggling a finger in one ear only seemed to make it worse so she stopped as quickly as she started. Brian handed Widget to Rachel, turning to look in the train at where Widget had damaged the front console, when a new noise became apparent.

Metallic creaking alerted Kitty to the presence of someone who must have just emerged from the forest to see what the commotion was. She turned slowly to face them, mind on high alert, and when she saw who it was she nearly shouted with laughter.

It was a version of Alistaire Stuart dressed as a funky Medieval knight. Her version of Alistaire had never been particularly dapper, and this one seemed to follow suit. His armor as tarnished and scuffed on one side where he had clearly fallen off his horse, presumably due to Widget’s explosion. The horse itself could be seen calmly eating grass distantly through the trees, probably pleased with losing its rider. Alistaire had a patchy 5 o’clock shadow on his face that Kitty could somewhat see through the opening in his helmet, where he gawped back at her unabashedly.

Meggan gasped delightedly and flew to the knight to attempt to embrace him. It was awkward, as his armor didn’t quite allow for her to get her arms fully around him, and he stood woodenly, his face working in an effort to understand what he was looking at.

“My friend! Well, you look just like my friend!” Meggan exclaimed, having clearly come to the same conclusion as Kitty that this wasn’t quite yet her world.

This version of Alistaire extracted himself from Meggan, and bowed with surprising depth. “My lady,” his voice was just the same as the Alistaire Kitty knew. “What a strange apparition behind you!”

Clearly he was talking about the train, which Brian hadn’t yet reemerged from. Kitty didn’t have the patience to explain anything to him. “Uh huh,” she turned from him and Meggan to look over at Widget in Rachel’s hands. Rachel had the same lack of patience with entering new worlds and hadn’t even bothered to look up at Alistaire yet. She’d just been turning Widget over in her hands, looking for any clues as to what had set him off.

It was clear that Widget needed fuel to trigger the ride into each new universe, and some fuel was clearly more stable than others (in that Widget rarely exploded), but what wasn’t clear was what precisely had caused the explosion. He seemed whole and whatever passed for calmness was on his features, but something about the tilt of the mechanics above his eyes denoted fatigue. She hadn’t really seen a machine look tired before, but Widget looked deeply tired.

Rachel could feel the gears turning in Kitty’s head without having to use any of her powers, Kitty was just like that. She could see Kitty knit her brows and bite her lip, the contents of her thoughts clearly on Widget. At the back of her mind, Rachel could hear Kitty’s thoughts at the same moment Kitty spoke aloud.

‘I think we need to find some sort of stable fuel for Widget so we can get out of here. He was eating metal before, and judging by,” here Kitty just jerked her finger at this world’s version of Alistaire still awkwardly speaking to Meggan, “metal shouldn’t be hard to find.”

Kurt had been watching the new Alistaire with Meggan, but chimed in with “I’d rather not take apart the train to feed him either, it seems like we need everything we have just to enter each world without injury.”

Kitty pulled Widget out of Rachels hands, her mind still racing. She felt Kurt pat her shoulder before he turned to the new Alistaire and said “my apologies sir! We have not properly introduced ourselves in concern for our friend here.”

This Alistaire started, then almost gratefully disengaged from Meggan, side eyeing her as he stepped closer to Kurt. “Your friend? The… the metal ball?”

Kurt had slightly more patience for new situations than Rachel or Kitty did, as they weren’t even bothering to interact with this new individual. Kurt saw him as a possible opportunity, and Brian still having not come out yet to report the internal damage, thought maybe he could glean more information about the world they were in from simple discussion with this knightly version of their friend.

“Ja, the metal ball. He is a kind soul, and we care for him. Perhaps you could help us? Do you… do you recognize us as at all?”

This Alistaire snapped his eyes up from Widget to Kurt, zero comprehension on his face. He drew himself up to his considerable height, Alistaire Stuart had always been a tall man, then bowed to Kurt. “I do not sir, and I should, for I know all around here. I am Sir Alistaire of Gordon Lethbridge Von Stuart, His Majesty’s Third Right Hand, of the London Circle, in the-“

“Third Right Hand?” Brian had emerged from the train, concerned from having seen the sun glint off Sir Alistaire’s armor in the window.

“Yes, sir, not the first nor the second, but the third.” Sir Alistaire bowed his head politely as if this explained anything.

“Ahem,” Kitty cut them off, her concern growing for Widget by the moment. “Uh, if I may ask, uhm… er,”

“Sir Alistaire,” Kurt whispered towards her out of the side of his mouth.

“Yes! Sir Alistaire, we need metal for our friend here, er, and I see with your armor that perhaps we could procure some?”

“Some armor? Of course! We have the finest blacksmiths in the country around here, I am sure His Majesty would be delighted to see to you, Sir…” Here he offered his hand to Kurt, who took it.

“Kurt. Kurt Wagner.”

“Sir Wagner! Of course. And you, Sir…” He offered his hand to Brian this time.

“Brian Braddock.”

Shaking Brian’s hand vigorously, Sir Alistaire smiled between Brian and Kurt, largely ignoring the rest of them. “His Majesty the King will be most pleased to meet your fine selves, and with money for armor! Most pleased indeed, the royal blacksmith will have you fitted out in no time.”

Brian used his free hand to peel Alistair’s hand from his own. “Well we don’t need a full suit, I think-“ he caught Kitty’s eye, who nodded. “Just some, I suppose, if the blacksmith might have any scrap metal.”

“No matter! His Majesty will find you a blacksmith that has what you are in need of. Certainly.”

“Is there any way we could just go straight to the blacksmith, Sir Alistaire?” Kitty chimed in. Sir Alistaire briefly clicked his eyes over to her, but didn’t look at her for long. It may have been Rachel, standing next to her in the leather mini skirt and thigh high boots that made it awkward for him to look in her direction, but something felt off.

Rachel could feel it too, and crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow at the knight. He slowly went red as he addressed Brian once again. “His Majesty is always the first stop for travelers, the King must know who is on his land at all times, for the safety of his people.”

“So we can’t just go to the blacksmith? It could be a quick trip…” Sir Alistaire was side eyeing her as he had been awkwardly doing with Meggan earlier. It was strange, to see a familiar face do something so outside of what she would have thought them capable of doing. Her friend Alistaire at home was cute, and fun, and incredibly intelligent. He was always kind, even if at times perhaps a little awkward from his lack of social interaction from long hours of isolation in his research. The man standing in front of her was so similar and yet the way he carried himself felt so foreign. She thought back to Kurt’s idea that the core of their loved ones lived on in their alternate versions. She wasn’t so sure about Sir Alistaire.

Sir Alistaire didn’t quite meet her eyes, but rather murmured that it was the King who could bring them to a blacksmith, not his own humble self. Brian and Kurt seemed equally confused, but in an effort to smooth things over, they agreed to go with Sir Alistaire to the castle to introduce themselves to the king as a first out of the way step to find fuel for Widget to jaunt them to the next world. It took a moment for Sir Alistaire to cajole his horse into letting him get back on her again, but the walk to the castle was surprisingly quick on the other side of the trees.

Rachel’s demeanor got more sour the closer to the castle they got, but Kitty could only smile to herself. Another corset-y world, here we come.

The interior of the castle was vast - the court itself was so large that it felt like a comically long walk up to the thrones. They could see someone who looked like royalty seated on the largest throne near the center, his head resting on one hand as he rolled his wrist to beckon them closer. When Excalibur as a group finally arrived, the king himself looked almost bored with it.

Sir Alistaire fell to one knee, and bowed his head deeply. “My liege, the great glory visited upon our la-“

“Yes, yes,” the king cut him off. His eyebrows rose and he pointedly looked from the knight to Brian, standing awkwardly behind him.

His head still bowed, Sir Alistaire pressed on, “a blessing upon these, your people, o great one-“

“I said yes, Sir Alistaire, can we please move this along?”

“Of course, o ye of magnificent-“

“Sir, I do ask that we skip this bit. It’s almost supper and I’m feeling rather ready to be done with the day.” The king had been shifting his eyes pointedly from Sir Alistaire to Brian and back, and it was only now that Sir Alistaire lifted his head to notice.

“Oh of course, this is-“

Brian cut off Sir Alistaire and stepped around him to introduce himself. “Your majesty, my name is Brian Braddock, of… er, the Braddock Estates. Our friend here, Sir Alistaire, informed my travel companions and I that your… ehm, beneficence, could lead us to a blacksmith so that we could continue in our travels.”

The king only leaned back in his throne, sighing. “I take a small amount of offence that you do not wish to stay in my beautiful country.”

At this point Kitty could sense Rachel was getting tired of the formalities, and she would need to move it along before Rachel decided to do so. “Your liege,” Kitty stepped forward and bowed - pulling everything she could from her brief moment as a princess in what felt like a lifetime ago but may have been last week for all she could tell. “I apologize for my companion, it’s not at all that we do not wish to stay, but rather that we are needed else-“

“Who’s woman is this?” The King cut her off, leaning forward looking between Brian and Kurt. “She should not speak out of turn when men are engaged in discussion.”

Kitty was stunned into silence. What the absolute hell? She didn’t need to look at Rachel to feel the red-hot ire rising off of her, but she could see when she turned to catch Kurt’s eyes that his eyebrows were so high, they were poised to fall off his face. Even Brian seemed stunned, and Meggan only looked concerned and confused.

“Pardon me, your majesty?” Kitty set her shoulders and stood taller. She could feel the loose white cotton shirt tucked into the corset she’d been wearing for far too long slip from one shoulder almost in direct opposition to her will. “I’m quite sure I did not hear you correctly. My friends and I are passing through on… a quest, and we were to understand that in your kindness and care for all,” she stressed the ‘all,’ “you could possibly assist us in this quest.”

Something worked in the Kings jaw and he glared at Kitty with out and out malice. “How dare you, you lowly thing, to speak to me like we are on the same level. I am your King. I am next to godliness, above even your husband!”

Kitty just gasped at the audacity. What was it with this trip, it was one thing after another. They couldn’t go to a world where everyone was nice and helped them without any extra ridiculousness? Of course not.

Meggan looked lost. Her eyes flicked from the King, to Brian, and back. She stepped closer to Brian and he put his arm around her. Kitty could feel Rachel step closer, ready to defend her, but Kitty wasn’t done. She poked a finger in the king’s direction and opened her mouth to give him what for, but he beat her to the punch.

“I can see that Sir Brian of the Braddock Estates has his wife fully in hand - she hasn’t even made a peep. That’s right, little one, close your mouth and listen to your betters. Surely you are not,” here the King sneered directly at her, “an unaccompanied woman.”

“And what’s the problem with that, buster!?” Kitty exploded. Rachel’s powers began to flare next to her, Kitty could feel her slide into a fighting stance without having to look.

“Now, now, wait a moment,” Brian let go of Meggan, and attempted to step between Rachel and Kitty. “My friends here are perfectly capable independent ladies, and er -“ he faltered a moment at the withering looks both Kitty and Rachel turned to give him.

“They had better not be independent!” The King shot out of his throne, his voice nearly cracking. “Since the reign of my father, it has been illegal for any of age woman to travel without guardianship of her father or husband. Are you telling me these two women are illegally traveling without management? The punishment is severe!”

Brian’s bravado dried up with the heated looks he was getting from Kitty and Rachel. He waved one hand uselessly in the air as he tried to back track from what was becoming a quickly escalating situation. He finally arrived at a “No?”

Kitty surreptitiously slid into a fighting stance herself, glaring with all of her might at the King. He took a step closer to her, his guards readying their swords behind him. Rachel’s fists flared weakly with power, which glinted off Sir Alistaire’s armor as he tried to scrabble out of the way.

“Ach! No need for this!” Kurt stepped forward. He did not like their odds. He did not have his sword on him - and while he felt he could easily knock one out of one of the guards hands, they were two handed broad swords, not his preferred rapiers. The weak light emanating from Rachel’s fists must have meant that she was still somewhat feeling the inhibitor from the last world they’d just escaped. More importantly, they were outnumbered by about four to one.

He gestured toward Kitty, who now had her fists up. “This is my delightful wife, of many years, and I do indeed have the joy of following her loveliness everywhere she goes. So, no need for any punishment, as we haven’t done anything wrong at all.” Kurt focused his most charming smile at the king and attempted a light hearted shrug, like things weren’t about to get bloody and quickly at that. “Just as my friend er, Sir Braddock is married to this vision,” he nodded toward Meggan, “I have the privilege of being… ah, married to this woman.”

Brian had stepped back to be closer to Meggan, and Kurt quickly slid into his place between Kitty and Rachel. He thought better of trying to put an arm over her shoulder now that her glare was refocused from Brian to himself.

The King took his hand off of the blade strapped to his hip. His eyes slid from Kitty to Rachel. “And the redhead?”

Venom could have dripped from Rachel’s eyes she was so furious. Kurt could feel that whatever she did next would make or break them, and knowing Rachel, it would be some sort of flying kick straight to the idiot king’s head. “Uhm,” he cleared his throat before Rachel could snap forward, “her too! I really, uh,” Rachel’s side eye was making the hair on his face sizzle, “like my wives, er,” smoke was definitely coming from her ears now, “feisty...”

The King certainly fit the bill for fool, but even he could see Rachel’s reaction. Behind him, the Queen, who had previously been sitting there as silent and still as a doll, lightly brushed her fingers over his sleeve. She gave him a look, which he ignored, only to step down from his throne in order to be closer to Rachel. Meeting her eyes, his face nearly as red as her hair, he addressed Kurt without looking at him. “Then manage her.”

In Kurt’s head, he imagined something he might say or a way to utilize his otherwise excellent charms to pacify this man-child ruler, but Rachel didn’t give him a chance. She headbutted the King with such savagery that Kurt could hear his nose crunch from a step away.

The King fell back, shocked, and made only a garbled sound before the knights around him stepped forward with their broadswords. Kurt was aware of Kitty effortlessly sliding from her fighters stance to quickly knocking a guard off his feet, and leaping through the next one who came at her. Brian managed to rend several swords from the group of guards who ganged up on him, throwing them with such strength that a couple became impaled in the palace marble. Kurt was only vaguely aware of Meggan taking to the air, or Rachel kicking the King when he was down, as all he could see around them was dozens of more guards running in through doorways that lined the great hall.

They were outnumbered by a great deal, and their odds of getting out of there unscathed were dwindling with every additional armed guard that ran through a door. Kurt barely had time to take stock of the chaos around him before a guard finally tried to lunge at him. It was the years of practice that took over, all of his play fights with Wolverine (which rarely felt like play) or Danger Room sessions with Scott that brought the muscle memory back.

He used the guard’s own solid stance as a spring board to sail over both the guards head and the danger of the broad sword, to kick the next guard with both feet. The force of it made that guard hit the one behind him in a domino effect, sprawling to trip yet another guard attempting to grapple with Brian. Kurt paid attention only as one must when things are flying around your head, his eyes were not on the fallen men, but rather on the sword of the guard he’d leapt over, using his tail to twist it out of the man’s grip. The momentum from the leap pulled the handle of the sword into the guards face, knocking him backward and the sword from his grip.

Kurt didn’t bother to pick up the sword, it was heavy enough it would only be a distraction. To give some reluctant credit to his attackers, they were adept enough with the heavy weapons that he was having a devil of a time staying one step ahead and not getting impaled. Yanking the helmet from one man struggling on the ground and smashing it into the face of another got him a couple steps closer to Brian, who was struggling with maybe ten men hanging off of him.

Punching the metal face plates of these guards wouldn’t do much more than hurt him, so Kurt began twisting and throwing the guards off of Brian and into other guards in the chaos of the fight. It was too many, and it seemed like more poured into the room at every moment.

“We need to retreat!” Kurt ducked as a huge sword swung over him, clipping the air where he’d just been. Brian’s response was lost in the shouting of the men pummeling him, but whatever it was, Kurt trusted it to be in the affirmative.

He teleported to Rachel, who’d moved on from kicking the King on the ground to using her telekinesis to heft several of the great big swords through the air. It was clearly an effort, and when he shouted the same at her, she dropped them with clear relief across her face. Her eyes seemed to look over his shoulder in slow motion, and he could see that expression shift, ever so slightly. It made the hair on his shoulders stand up and his stomach drop. 

In his fear he turned to catch sight of Kitty, afraid something had happened to her, that he hadn’t protected her or he’d left her to fend for herself. But she was fine, phased halfway through the floor taunting a guard with her tongue out.

It was Widget, behind her, floating in the air, vibrating so fast that Kurt could no longer make out his little mechanical features. He heard almost in doppler effect, Rachel’s gasp and “oh shit!” as she flew past him to gather Widget in her arms and fly him far from where he could hurt them by exploding.

Kurt turned to shout again at Brian, that they needed to get out, to hell with these people, that Widget needed them, and Rachel too as she wasn’t at full strength, but he barely saw the fist fly at him in time. His shout cut off, he was barely able to turn his head in time so that the full force of the metal encased hand glanced off his jaw. It hurt, of course, but it was the type of pain that woke him up. He jumped back, and used the guard behind him as a brace to swing his foot up and kick the man who’d punched him. The guard staggered, but another stepped forward, and the one he’d used as a brace managed to jab him with the blunt end of his sword right in his kidney. It was jarring, but manageable.

It was just that he was slowing down, he could see he was slowing down. More and more guards seemed to sense that he was vulnerable, and each one of his team mates were also bogged down in the fight. He managed to keep them mostly off of him, until he could hear the boom of Widget’s explosion. Kurt couldn’t help it, his head twisted in an effort to see if Rachel had made it safe, all he could see was a new skylight in the throne room, rubble still falling from the opening she had made.

All it took was this split second, and pain blossomed like he’d never felt before. His rational mind was able to wonder how it had happened before the pain got worse and he fell gasping to the ground. A sword glinted red with his blood, poised to strike again but this time at his neck. It was a lucky shot that grazed him while his attention was away, but it was more than luck that made Kitty see it.

She hadn’t seen him get hurt, but she saw his face crumple, and his legs fold under him, blood spurting from somewhere in his mid section. She too had been looking at where Rachel had blasted through the ceiling, Lockheed flying through the debris after her, and saw the light glint off of Kurt’s shiny blue hair as his head craned and fell. Her eyes took in the blood and she didn’t even hear herself scream as she phased, flung herself through several men to land wholesale over Kurt, crushing him to the ground. The sword bit through the two of them harmlessly.

Kitty cradled him, his head in her arms. His hands had found the wound and was gripping as tightly as he could. Kitty didn’t have a mind to assess him, she could barely reason with herself that he’d been so obviously hurt. His eyes were screwed shut in pain, and she wiped a tear that had collected at the bridge of his nose. It was all she could do to not rock back and forth and jostle him, she simply leaned her face into his and released her own tears into his hair.

Barely under the noises of the fight around them she could hear him whisper her name.

For Kurt, all he could feel was crashing burning waves of pain from his lower belly and legs, and a sudden weightlessness. It was surreal to feel the blade that had just sliced into him to penetrate both he and Kitty harmlessly, but it was always pleasantly surreal to be phased. With the pain and the weightlessness, he knew he was on the ground, but all he could otherwise feel was Kitty’s arms around him and her shuddering breath in his ear. It took effort to focus on anything else, and it seemed like a million miles away the King’s voice shouted for a cease in the fighting.

“I may have spoken too suddenly,” The King gracelessly used the back of his gloved hand to smear the blood away from his nose. “I see now how to two do care for each other. Surely such womanly concern must come from your wife.”

Kitty’s tears burned now. She raised herself from Kurt but kept her arms around him. He blinked open one eye and tried to smile at her, but it was weak. Kitty shook with repressed rage - none of this had to happen. All of this could have been avoided at any moment, but no! How many times had things gone wrong for reasons completely out of her control? It was exhausting. And now Kurt had been hurt, and part of her felt like it was her fault. If only she’d been quick enough, or strong enough… or just enough to protect him.

She could feel Kurt’s shallow breathing, and watched his jaw muscle move. He cracked open his eye again to look sideways over at the King, who looked a bit worse for wear as well. Rachel had done a number on him when she could. Kitty could see the lines of tension in Kurt’s face, but his smile looked easy to the untrained eye. “You could just have listened the first time, your Majesty,” at the word ‘majesty’ Kitty could hear the scorn in Kurt’s voice, but he hid it well.

The Queen adjusted her crown and tucked some of the hair that had fallen from her wimple back out of sight. She leaned into the King’s ear and whispered for a moment as he simply glowered at Kurt and Brian, now dusting himself off with Meggan’s help. “Mmm, I’ve just had a fantastic idea,” he said as the Queen stepped back away from him, “while you heal and rest, allow me to lend you space in my castle, then we shall break our fast in the morn. It’s settled, my pages will see to your rooms.”

No pages appeared, but some of the guards who weren’t currently unconscious picked themselves off the ground to assist in guiding the group out of the throne room.

Kitty wasn’t mollified at all by the King’s suggestion, she was still too enraged. But Kurt really looked hurt, he had both hands wrapped around his leg, and when he looked at her, his smile was sort of drooping into a grimace.

“Our wife, Kätzchen, she flew off!” It was a weak joke, and he knew it.

Kitty scoffed, Rachel would be fine. She was more worried about Widget. Summoning her anger once again for the King, she snapped, “fine,” and not taking her eyes off of Kurt, “show us.”

“Here,” Brian bent down on one knee to help lift Kurt from the ground. He hissed as he tried to get the leg under him, and Kitty could see blood seep from between his fingers. Brian had him securely in one arm, and Kitty could only fret as she walked after them. Where had Lockheed gone? Surely Rachel could take care of herself but it didn’t seem like she was at full power. It really didn’t seem like a good idea to go further into the castle but she could hear Brian discussing first aid supplies for Kurt.

She followed behind them, one hand lightly on Kurt’s back, as the King’s guard led the four of them through massive ornate hallways. Kitty couldn’t appreciate the huge paintings, sculptures, tapestries of knights and mythological characters that adorned almost every surface. Her mind was with Kurt.

The King’s guard, blessedly minus the King himself, stopped in front of an enormous wooden door fixed into the hallway stone work. “For you and your wife, Sir Braddock.” Nearly in unison the guard bowed their heads as one opened the door to reveal a lush bedroom.

“Thank you,” Brian caught Meggan’s eye as she poked her head into the room. Every square inch had been decorated somehow and the result was nearly overwhelming. “But my friend requires medical assistance.”

Several of the guards scoffed, but the one who had so far been spokesman just gave Brian an incredulous look. “That’s women’s work. His wife can do that, you don’t need to sully your hands.”

Kitty slipped under Kurt’s other arm to give him support, and looked quickly to Brian, who was rapidly becoming red. “It’s ok, Brian. I can handle it.”

Brian took a sharp breath in then attempted to manage his frustration. He disengaged from Kurt, and nodded to Kitty. “You know where we’ll be if you need us.”

Meggan touched Kitty’s shoulder and mouthed ‘be safe’ before tucking herself into the room. She and Brian watched as the King’s guard walked Kitty and Kurt further down the hall.

Kitty was a strong person. When she had first met the X-men, she hadn’t known that about herself, but it had become more and more clear as time progressed. She was proud of herself, she was strong in body and mind, and she knew she was capable of whatever life threw at her. But Kurt’s heavy arm draped across her shoulder made her more and more worried. His weight wasn’t the issue - although he was really quite pressing into her - it was that he needed to rest any weight on her that was worrisome. She could hear his ragged breathing as the King’s guard led them down the hallway, and was about to ask how much further it would be when they stopped abruptly.

A tapestry covered what was otherwise a plain wooden door. Like the one leading into Brian and Meggan’s room, it was circular dark wood fixed into the stone work, but unlike that one, it was significantly smaller and more roughhewn. One of the guards swept the tapestry aside and opened it, gesturing for Kitty to help Kurt inside.

Inside the room was considerably less nice than Brian and Meggan’s room. There was a huge fire place taking over a significant portion of the opposite wall, with two small rippled windows on either side. The room was rough and unadorned wood, much like the door, with a thick carpet strewn across the stone floor. There was only one fourposter bed in the room, which Kitty supposed made sense, since this world insisted that she had to be married. The bed itself thankfully looked wonderfully comfortable, with soft pillows stacked high on a surprisingly deep mattress.

“Dinner will be sent up at seven,” the spokesperson for the King’s guard said, still standing in the doorway. “And uh… we will send up something for wound care.”

Kitty deposited Kurt on the bed, where he hissed and leaned back, still gripping his hip and upper thigh. Kitty said nothing, just held the guard’s eyes as she shut the door on him. She could hear the tapestry fall back into place over the door and felt thankful for even that extra layer of privacy. Turning, Kitty eyed the room once more for anything she could use to help Kurt. There were the blankets on the bed, but no water, and Kurt didn’t look up to trying to look elsewhere for materials.

He was leaning back on the stack of pillows on the bed, his eyes closed. Kitty could see the tension in his neck and shoulders as he gripped his thigh. He was breathing shallowly, his jaw clenched and eyebrows knitted in pain. Kitty’s heart swelled. This wouldn’t do.

“Kurt, let me look at it.” She placed a hand on his upper arm, running her thumb over the cotton of his shirt. Kitty took a deep breath. She hadn’t seen Kurt react like he was in this kind of pain since… well, she’d never seen it. No matter what it was she was going to reassure him it would be fine. She was strong and she was capable, and while normally she leaned on Kurt for emotional support, it was his turn to lean on her.

He cracked one eye open at her and huffed a nervous laugh. Blood was still seeping from between his fingers, she would need to deal with that first. He hissed as he peeled one hand away from the injury, blood suddenly spurted and he clamped down his hand again. Not good.

Kitty squared her shoulders. It would be fine. It was fine. Voice of authority. “Kurt, your shirt looks cleaner than mine, we can rip it up for bandages. I’ll swap my hands for yours and you take the shirt off.”

Kurt didn’t argue, just let her slide her hands under his to clamp down on his upper thigh. It was difficult, she couldn’t get her hand all the way around his hip, and her other hand was a little too close to the nexus of his legs for comfort. She struggled to keep her mind on task and not let the blush over take her as he panted.

Slowly, clearly in pain, he pulled the cloth belt loose and pulled the shirt up. He kept panting, trying to get air, as his midsection was revealed. He had some difficulty getting the shirt up over his head, but Kitty couldn’t take her hands off of him to help. He lay there a moment, his arms tangled with the shirt over his head, his mouth and jaw revealed but his eyes obscured by the cloth. Kitty’s eyes drifted from his jawline to the curve of his shoulder down to one dark blue nipple, then further down the impossibly soft looking fur on his chest and abs to her own hands clasped around his upper thigh. Kurt took a deep breath and finally managed to remove the shirt entirely, grimacing at Kitty.

She nodded at him and he placed his hands over hers once more. She let him take over, removing her now bloody hands to try and rip up the shirt. Using her teeth, she managed to rip a strip from the hem. Wishing there was anything to wash the wound, she just kept going, ripping Kurt’s shirt into ribbons.

She laid the now bandages next to him on the bed and folded one last square up to try and blot at the blood. “It’ll be ok, I promise.”

Somehow, Kurt knew she was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitty as princess I think is right at the beginning of the official Excalibur Cross Time Caper, although off hand I don’t know what issue. She's magically taught how to seem more princess-y, and I feel the experience would probably stay with her.  
> Next chapter gets steamy, baths are to be had, and I think you may have already noticed there's only one bed. (That one's for you, Danke_rose!)


	8. The Bath

It was hard to see what had really happened to him with the blood flowing so freely. Kitty could only press her makeshift bandage against him and wait it out. Kurt looked apologetic when she lifted her eyes to meet his. He was still propped up against the pillows, but now that he had a moment to rest, he wasn’t breathing as shallowly as he had been. That seemed like a good sign to Kitty.

Her hands were quite bloody she realized, although not as shockingly so as Kurt’s hands were. The red of the blood hadn’t faded yet, and stood out obscenely against his usual lovely blue. His suede pants were utterly ruined, although she tried not to look anywhere but at her hands, pressed against the crux of where his leg became his hip. Above her hands was all taught abs leading into bare chest, and mere inches away was a bulge she valiantly fought to avert her gaze from. Kurt’s own hand was resting lax next to hers, against his other thigh. She could see the hair on his stomach shift slightly against his arm as he exhaled.

Kurt was in a world of pain, although not so much from the cut itself - which had already faded now that he was no longer jostling it. Rather from the fear of what could had been stabbed. He felt calmer now that the pain had lessened, he felt like if the truly important things down there had been stabbed through then it probably would hurt a lot more. Hopefully. As it was now, he was more concerned about how close Kitty’s hands were to those important parts of him that he didn’t really want her to see in this particular context. Desperate as he was for confirmation he was intact, it felt wildly uncouth to cup the area with Kitty right there.

Kitty had briefly met his eyes, but now was studiously focused on her hands pressing down on his leg. She had half of her body on the bed next to him, her leg folded under her, her hip softly against his own. Her hair was wild and loose, nearly obscuring the blush he could see creeping across her face. The silence stretched on, and while Kurt felt comfortable just leaning back while Kitty took care of him, he thought back to Rachel. Rachel had made it clear he had messed up somewhere with Kitty. Kitty seemed like maybe she was ok? Although were they really ok, in this ridiculous place, having to pretend like this and still getting stabbed through?

Kurt brushed her bloody fingers with his own, which made her look up at him. She was really pressing down on him, and the weight was making the mattress sink, pushing them together further. “Kätzchen,“ despite the circumstances, his smile for her still came easily. “I wanted to talk to you about… I guess about that one world -“

Kitty’s mouth dropped open, but before she could say anything they heard the tapestry outside of the door shift and the door itself shot open. Backing into the room, her face obscured, was the widest woman either of them had seen - almost to Gatecrasher’s size. When the woman turned, they saw a shelf of boob wobble above her straining corset, her hair pulled tight above her face. Said face was lined deeply with smile lines and she cheerfully bustled over to the two of them on the bed, her hands full of a tray of items. Behind her two much younger and skinnier women heaved a huge wooden tub, which they struggled to place in front of the empty fireplace.

Kitty flicked her eyes back to Kurt, who belatedly looked back at her again. “It’s ok,” she shrugged as much as she could with her hands pressed against him. “It’s not worth talking about.”

Kurt did not have a chance at rebuttal, as the older woman set the tray on the log beside the bed, which despite clearly being a log split as use for a table, had a perfectly even top. She tsked, and pulled one of Kitty’s hands away from Kurt’s wound to assess. Thankfully it didn’t spurt blood again, but the jostling made him wince.

“I think I’ve got everything you need, those young gents in the Kings Guard said there’d been a bit of a kerfuffle, but frankly what I saw of them you gave as good as you got,” the woman said cheerfully as she ripped Kurt’s pants leg open from hip to knee. She quickly ripped the rest of it, and slid the ribbons of Kurt’s shirt onto the floor. Kurt just watched, stunned thoroughly, not expecting to lose so much of his clothing so quickly.

“Kerfuffle?! That was a bit more than-“ Kitty didn’t have a chance under this woman’s friendly bustling, she suddenly found her hands being wiped clean by a damp cloth and bandages being pressed into her lax palms.

“Darling I think you have all that you need here, the girls brought in some extra water for you, both drinking and to wash with. I know it isn’t dinner yet, but I thought maybe you’d be hungry so I laid out a little something-something for you so you won’t be disturbed later. I know how I felt back when I was young and in love with my Arnie, back when he was pretty, there was never enough private time for us to get our hands on each other. Oh you have such beautiful hair, my baby’s hair is just like that when she doesn’t pull it back. Anyway, you kids have a lovely evening together,” and with a wink she bustled out with the two younger women almost as fast as she’d come in. Kitty could hear the tapestry drop back into place before her head swiveled back to Kurt. He looked just as perplexed as she felt.

“What the hell was that?” Kitty was almost speechless.

Kurt’s head fell back and he just shut his eyes. “I am too tired to care…” Kitty could see the lines around his lips deepen as a small smile began to grow. “Do those bandages look clean?”

Kitty startled, already having forgotten the new cloth in her hands. She set a few to the side and unfolded one, it was soft and thick and a brilliant white. She folded it over her fingers and quickly pressed it once again against Kurt. Her mind was listing off the first aid she knew, now that they had the materials to actually take care of him. Stop the bleeding, inspect the wound, clean the wound, stitch it up. No wait, clean then inspect, then stitch. No, that didn’t sound right. Would he need stitches?

She found a small bowl balanced on the log next to the bed, and poured some of the water that had been carefully arranged next to it into it. She soaked one of the unused bandages in the cold water, her other hand still holding the bandage against Kurt.

She was so serious like this, with her curly hair pushed behind one ear. She was bent over him, her attentions focused on his hip, and it took everything in him not to touch her hair, her cheek, or her shoulders. She was busy, and he just had so much blood on his hands. There was something about her attention focused on him that was warming away the fear he had, the fear of his injury, the fear that inherently went alongside this nonsensical trip. The warmth started in the injury, where she was so gently touching him, and threatened to spread noticeably if he wasn’t careful. Kurt felt so tired, and it would be so easy to let her see what her touch was doing to him. He felt almost thankful that he was so spent from the last stop in the trip, before feeling a pang of guilt.

Kitty gently peeled the bandage up to look at the gash on Kurt’s thigh. Now that she was looking at it, her eye wanted to shift to look anywhere but where he’d been cut, however she wasn’t sure what other places were safe to rest her eyes. Whoever that woman had been, helpful as she was with the bandages and what not, she’d effectively stripped Kurt of the clothes he’d been left with. His nearly skin tight suede pants were in tatters on the one side, held up for modesty only by Kurt’s hand keeping it in place. His other leg was untouched, the sad singular pant leg looking comical by its lonesome.

She could see lovely blue velvet all the way from his toes over the muscles in his thigh to the hipbone that framed his soft looking belly button, up even further over some serious muscle definition she knew was causing her to begin blushing once more, to his pointed smile. Finally onto his golden eyes that locked onto hers when she raised her head. She quickly looked back down once more, allowing herself a mere moment to glance over the very obvious male body in the bed with her. Kurt was safety, and home, he was movie nights and staying up late to laugh, he was the voice at the back of the room who urged others to listen to her, and who encouraged her when she didn’t even know she needed encouraging. She’d been around him so long that he’d just become a part of the every day. She hadn’t really thought of him as more than her buddy, she’d not really realized the physical presence he had. Even after that weird moment where she’d seen their doppelgangers together, she’d kept her mind from considering his physicality, it just hadn’t really occurred to her. Here confronted with his very masculine being prone under her hands, waiting for her to step up and take care of him was jarring. More to file in some very secret compartments in her mind to figure out later.

Looking under the bandage, the wound itself was not very frightening, but she was not surprised that it had hurt as much as it appeared to. It was shallow, but Kurt did not have any kind of top layer of fat to protect him, and it had come close to grazing the muscle. The cut itself was several inches long, and a pretty straight cut without jagged edges. The blood wasn’t excessive and pressing on it had clearly helped a lot. Stitches would be helpful but it didn’t look like they had been given any. Kitty gently dabbed it with the wet cloth, holding her breath for his reaction.

When he didn’t jump, she looked up at him. He was laying back against the pillow, the tension she’d seen in his stomach had relaxed and she could see his bare chest move ever so slightly as he breathed. His eyes slowly opened again to meet hers, and he gave her a lazy smile. “It doesn’t hurt so much anymore, danke Kätzchen.”

Kitty let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Good! Good… I don’t even think it will need stitches, probably. Well... no, it’ll probably be fine. ” She brushed it with the wet cloth again, wiping away the remaining blood that had slowly welled up. She placed the dry bandage back over it, hopeful it would scab. “Here, let me…” Unwinding one of the bandages she’d made from his shirt, she moved to tie the cloth in place around his thigh. He gave an involuntary grunt as he shifted so her hands could reach under him, but his movement hadn’t really given her much space. She could briefly feel the warmth emanating from between his legs, his hair soft against her hand.

“Ok!” She stood up and wiped her hands in her skirt. “I think you’ll live.”

Kurt just burst out laughing. He shifted again to bring himself to a sitting position, looking at her over a lopsided grin. “Thank you, Nurse Kitty. Very well done.” He chucked and shook his head. “I may even connive to get injured again, just for you.”

“That’s Doctor Kätzchen, thankyouverymuch!“ His humor was contagious and she leapt at the chance for something light hearted. “Maybe, ehm, don’t get stabbed again, ok? You don’t have any pants left to rip.”

Kurt looked down at himself again and seemed to realize his state of undress. He sighed, and pulled a pillow over him. “Ja, good point… I’m just glad nothing vital got an impromptu circumcision.”

Kitty nearly choked on her laugh, and threw her hands over her face to cover it. She laughed until her shoulders were shaking, the sheer relief that he was ok really washing over her with that comment.

Kurt seemed chagrin, apologizing softly, but keeping the grin on his face. “I didn’t mean to be crass, I am sorry. It’s been a long day…”

It had been a long day at that, for sure. Kitty’s day had been shorter due to the strange time disruption, but so much had happened so quickly that the morning felt like a lifetime ago. She just let her fingers brush over his in acknowledgement, then gestured to the tub in front of the fireplace. “It has been a long day, and I don’t know the last time we had access to this much hot water. Do you want to wash?”

Kurt eyed the tub standing on it’s own in front of the fire place, which was now lit. It was a cozy sight, the water slightly steaming despite the air being a comfortable temperature. The fire place itself was huge, just barely large enough to walk into. Held slightly up and over the fireplace was a huge cauldron which was also slightly steaming, and the drapes had been pulled over the windows presumably for privacy. It would be glorious to be in the tub with a mug of hot chocolate. The pain that had him nearly prone was down to a twinge, thankfully, but it was Kitty who he was worried about now. She still had his blood on her fingers, and he knew her well enough to see how weary she was simply from the tilt of her eyebrows.

“I would like a wash, but you should first. I can, er, I can leave, if you want privacy.” Even if it meant limping to the other side of that tapestry and waiting in nothing but his singular pant for her to use the tub to her satisfaction.

“Oh! No, no, it’s ok, you can first.” Privacy hadn’t occurred to her. She honestly hadn’t thought of that, simply relieved they were together. “I don’t, I mean, it’s ok.” She twirled her hair, suddenly embarrassed and not sure why.

“Kätzchen, really. I’ll just step out and you can just let me know when it’s my turn.“ His fingers grasped her free hand, which was nervously fingering the fabric of her skirt. He held her hand up so she could see the blood on it, and she started to notice the blood that she’d inadvertently smeared on her skirt and hair. “I should let this clot a little more before I soak, and I know you could use it.”

“Yeah, I just…” her voice trailed off. She looked between him and the tub, a small niggling nervousness tickling her lower belly. She held his hand for a beat, her eyes cast down at where they were joined. His thumb rubbed her palm, the blue soft against her pale skin in the low lighting. Kitty wasn’t worried about being alone. She’d been alone for a long time and did just fine on her own, thank you. It was the thought of possibly losing one another again, or something happening to him while her eyes were off of him that was impossible to contemplate. “I think I’d prefer it if you stayed.”

Kurt searched her face for a moment before squeezing her hand in acknowledgement. “As you wish,” he murmured.

It made Kitty laugh again, the nervousness still palpable. “You have to stop quoting that line, Kurt.”

“Ach, but it’s so good. Would you rather I call everything inconceivable?” Kurt’s German lilt to his word didn’t quite do justice to the way Wallace Shawn delivered it in the movie Princess Bride, but it did ease the anxiety bubbling in her stomach. Kurt had that way to him, somehow, which was another reason she did not quite want him to leave.

“I think I could have used a nice ‘have fun storming the castle’ before this bonkers adventure,” she sighed. “Ok, turn around to give me a little privacy.”

Kurt did as asked, closing his eyes as well. He’d forgotten for a moment that it was Kitty who had watched the movie with him so many times, even going as far as getting a movie rental card out in his name so he could call up and request it. He almost felt like it was a slip, to use that line with her… she probably thought he was joking. Was he joking? He wasn’t sure any longer, and hadn’t been sure for a long time. With his eyes closed he tried to focus on anything other than the susurration of Kitty getting undressed, forcing himself to wonder where Rachel had gone. Knowing her, she was fine and just as angry as before.

For Kitty, the skirt was no issue, the moment he turned his back she was able to skin right out of it, and the shorts she wore under it. The flowy white shirt above the corset was also easy enough to untuck, she did so by savagely pulling it over her head and in doing so untucking it from the corset. It was the corset itself she struggled with. The tie had somehow knotted in the back and she couldn’t unhook the front until she’d loosened it. She couldn’t loosen it until it had been untied but she also couldn’t find where it had been tied. Meggan had helped her put it on and must have tucked the loose ends of the tie somewhere in the binding.

She took a couple of seconds trying to reach behind her and blindly search for the knot keeping her stuck in the infernal thing. She didn’t realize she’d been mumbling under her breath about the blasted corset until she heard Kurt’s soft chuckle. She huffed a sigh.

“Kurt, if you keep your eyes closed, could you help me with the tie on this?” She turned towards him. His back was still turned, and she saw him dutifully turn towards her voice with his eyes closed.

“You want me to untie the corset?”

“Yeah, I just need some help undressing.” She cleared her throat, realizing belatedly what she’d said. “I mean, just getting the knot undone and I can do the rest. Here, let me-“ she stepped closer, turning her back to him, his eyes still closed. “Can you maybe feel where the knot is? I can’t find it when I reach behind me.”

“Of course, Kätzchen.“ His hand inadvertently brushed the back of her leg as he reached up. There was a pause, his mind blank for a moment with worry he’d offended her. “Ah, that… I didn’t mean-“

“It’s ok,” her answer came a little too fast. She moved her hands around to cover what she could of her behind. “You can open your eyes to get the tie…”

Kurt slowly cracked open one eye at a time, steeling himself to snap them closed if needed. She was right in front of him, her palms outward, fingers interlaced against her behind. He could see the pink of her panties under her fingers, the curve of her behind eclipsing anything else he might have been able to see. He snapped his eyes upward, embarrassed but suddenly feeling electricity shoot through his veins. The tie to her corset was tucked under the binding, and he made quick work of pulling it loose.

Kitty felt slightly strange, feeling his hands pulling at her corset as he attempted to loosen it. “Thank you,” she mumbled, afraid that if she turned around he might see her blush. It belatedly occurred to her she could have phased out of it, but she brushed this off to tiredness, ignoring entirely the part of her that was pleased to have asked him.

“Anything for you,” she could hear the smile in his voice. “Even as dreadfully difficult as that was. My eyes are closed again.”

She didn’t even bother to respond or check, she trusted him. Kitty stepped forward, working the hooks in the front of the corset loose and removing it. She pulled off the remnants of the cotton underwear she had brought all the way from home in Chicago and added them to the growing pile of clothes by the tub.

Stepping in was glorious. She sank gratefully down the side of the tub, her legs folding to allow her to nearly submerge herself. She picked up the soap that sat on the floor next to the tub, discovering with delight that it fizzed almost as bubble bath when it touched the water. Kitty took a deep breath before submerging her head in the hot soapy water, feeling the nervousness sink lower with every moment she was in the hot water. She was warm, it was safe, and Kurt was here. She could almost… relax.

When her head broke the surface she felt just as bubbly as the soapy water was now. She looked over at Kurt, whatever was on her tongue to say dried up as she saw him on the bed. He was now laying back, one arm up to cover his eyes, and his legs draped over the side. His spare hand was no longer holding his single pant leg up, but resting peacefully across his chest. He also looked relaxed. Usually there were some smile lines etched into his face, but now his eyes were closed and his mouth lax as though he were asleep. “Kurt?” She asked, “you asleep? Or just resting?”

She could see the smile lines come back as his mouth twitched. “Ach, I’m asleep Kätzchen, I cannot remember the last time I slept…”

Kitty huffed a chuckle, and went back to rubbing more soap over her arms. “I know, I almost feel relaxed for the first time in ages.”

“Ja, it hasn’t been easy. It’s been nonstop for this entire trip.”

“Our little misadventure? What, you don’t sleep well when you’re being rocketed through time and space for months on end?”

Kurt lifted the hand off his chest to rest over the one over his eyes, and Kitty couldn’t help admire him out of the corner of her eye. He couldn’t have any idea of the display he was putting on, the man had no fat on him to hide his sculpted abdomen. Again, it was difficult to adjust to the idea that her friend, this furry teddy bear of a jokester, whom she had been to hell with and back - nearly literally sometimes - was quite so… masculine. His chest hair was slightly longer than the very fine hair on his stomach, his bellybutton nearly hidden in a dark patch. She realized she could see his armpit hair and had never really given much thought to how much darker his head hair and armpit hair was. Nearly unbidden her eyes shifted lower and she realized that the darkening near his hips was not just a trick of the light, but that his hair ‘down there’ must be just as dark blue.

Kitty looked down at herself in the water. She was obscured completely now by the soap bubbles, her hands, shoulders, and kneecaps visible only because they weren’t submerged. How did he live with it? Did he know he was this beautiful? Her hands were puckered from the water, and the fine down on her arms and legs were nearly invisible in the flickering firelight. What would his children look like? Would they have his three, or five fingers, like their mother?

Kitty allowed herself one more gratuitous look at him, reclining on the bed and breathing softly. Every day he put that body in danger to help a world that did not see him as she saw him.

“Relaxed, Kätzchen? You got quiet a moment.”

Kitty tore her eyes away from him, the spell that seemed to be over her broken. “The bath is really nice. A gross side effect of saving the world all the time is that the grime really accumulates, doesn’t it?”

Kurt laughed, “right? If I ever smell bad tell me. Be kind, but tell me.”

“Kurt, uh…” Kitty hid her smile behind her hand, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “You do need a bath.”

Kurt rubbed his eyes, grumbling something under his breath. “Bitte… Kätzchen, do I smell?”

“No, you’re just more you than normal. Normally you’re a little soapy with something spicy thrown in. I’m not, well, I don’t have a nose like you or Logan, so I don’t know how to explain.” Cupping her hands, she poured some of the soapy water over her hair. “You don’t smell, I just know you and also this bath is very nice.”

Kurt heaved a sign. “That’s a relief. How do you know what I smell like?” Kitty didn’t need to look over at him to hear the smile in his voice.

“Better question, Kurt, what do I smell like?” She grinned and looked over at him, his palms still over his eyes.

She could see him chewing on the answer, the side of his mouth quirking. To Kurt’s nose, Kitty was a symphony that was slightly different each time but always strongly her. She smelled familiar, sometimes the vanilla of her favorite shampoo, but some times like popcorn from movie night. Sometimes she smelled most strongly of fresh linen after laundry day, something earthy and homey. What he would give to press his nose into her and check right now. Kitty rarely smelled strongly, her phasing simply didn’t hold onto any odors for long, but there was something undeniably her, something so specific that he couldn’t place his finger on. Even in the midst of something strenuous, teleporting together, or practicing combat moves, where he could smell himself on her most strongly - she shone through.

The thought brought him joy, but he wasn’t sure how to share it with her without sounding like he was taking gratuitous sniffs of her hair when she wasn’t aware. Instead he settled on, “you smell like Lockheed. A little purple and scaly.”

“No I don’t!” She mock gasped, “how in the world could I smell purple?”

“Easily, Kätzchen. And rude too.”

“Purple and rude, Kurt? Really?” She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s too true. Lockheed bears it proudly, but the bath will help you.”

“Ok, now you smell rude, Kurt.”

Kurt laughed easy. “Ach, a bath does sound so nice. I loved the first one we had in the light house, it was big enough to stretch out in.”

“Sounds like you’re getting antsy for your turn,” Kitty cupped some of the soapy water and let it run down her shoulders.

“Nein Kätzchen, you should enjoy this to the fullest. Nothing is more relaxing than a good bath after a long day.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Or a massage.” Kitty couldn’t remember the last time she had a real massage, frankly it might not have been since her ballet days. The thought sparked her to say “we used to stretch and use these roller lumbar blocks after dance class to work out the soreness in our muscles. My teacher was this Russian lady, I thought she was so hardcore at the time, she used to tell stories of her old ballet days. They used to steam their muscles and then hit themselves with these branches. Can you believe that?”

“Ah, _vihad_! I’ve heard talk from when we would tour through parts of Russia. Ja, in the sauna, right?”

Kitty laughed. She could only imagine her old classmates faces to learn that their instructor was not making it up to scare them. It felt strange to think of them now. This world was so strange, her life so strange now, and yet here Kurt was, giving her space to reminisce.

“Those branches - I tried it in Finland once, they call it something else.” The word was just at the tip of his tongue, “ _vasta_! That’s right. It wasn’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“Something far more relaxing.” The smile on his face made Kitty’s smile grow once more. “Something softer would have been nice. Ach, like…” another word lost on the tip of his tongue. “ _Schwamm… Luffa schwamm_.“

“Loofa?” Kitty thought maybe she’d seen one. She looked around, and sure enough there was one near the tub. She couldn’t quite reach it, her arms not quite long enough.

“Ja, loofa. That would be much nicer.”

“They actually-“ she strained for a moment, trying to reach it. “They gave us one, but I can’t quite grab it. Would you mind if I also used it? I only see the one.”

“Of course, Kätzchen.“ Kurt would not mind indeed and struggled not to imagine her using it.

She cleared her throat, feeling slightly embarrassed. Not only could she not reach the loofa, she’d been so quick to get in the bath, she hadn’t pulled a towel near either. “Could you maybe hand it to me? It’s ok to open your eyes, I made kind of an impromptu bubble bath.”

Kurt opened one eye first under his hand, almost as though checking if the coast was clear. It was, and Kitty just grinned at him from the tub, her skin flush from the heat of the water. His breath nearly caught in his throat, she looked so happy and relaxed, her hair wet and coiled around her shoulders. Her eyes cut to the left, and he noticed the loofa sitting on the carpet between them.

Sitting up wasn’t a problem, although it did cause another twinge of pain. Even standing wasn’t an issue, now that he knew he wouldn’t soon faint from blood loss. He felt drawn to her, and couldn’t imagine himself sitting back on the bed without her company. It took only a step to gather the loofa in his tail, and suddenly with another step he was next to her, her shiny face looking expectantly up to him. His mind was moving unconsciously, and he found himself saying “would you like me to wash your back?”

Kitty’s expression did not change, but he could see a shift in her eyes. He opened his mouth to rescind the offer, feeling foolish and as though he’d crossed an invisible boundary with her, when she cut him off.

“Sure.”

He bent his knees, and kneeled by the edge of the tub. He dipped the loofa into the water feeling tightness in his lower belly.

The first swipe down her back was followed by immediate goosebumps. She suppressed a shiver of delight, not wanting to accidentally put him off the task. It was enough to hold her knees as he pressed the loofa down her back, staying above water level but dipping the loofa occasionally.

It was heavenly. Kitty couldn’t help but let her eyes drift close, her head resting on her knees and her hair swept to the side to give him access to more of her back. The fire kept her comfortable and the room felt gratuitously warm and relaxing. Feeling the loofa run down her back was a treat she didn’t know she needed.

Kurt could see the stress fade from the corners of her mouth, he watched as her shoulders relaxed against her knees. He would dip the loofa in the soapy water, then run it down her spine, again and again, making sure to slowly cover every inch of skin he could see above the water. Her hair was wet enough that the water running out of it would make it droop across her back, the curls almost bouncing when the weight of the droplet was released. Any time any of her chestnut mane got in his way, Kurt would carefully and gently use one finger to drag it back over her shoulder.

The two of them remained in this comfortable haze for a long moment, the only sound the crackle of the fire and Kurt’s movements with the loofa in the water. Kitty almost gleamed in the firelight and Kurt longed to run his fingers through her wet hair. He could see the side of her face, slightly in shadow as she was turned from the fire towards him. She had her eyes closed; her lips quirked in a smile.

Distracting himself from the thought of pressing his own lips to that smile, he broke the silence by clearing his throat. The one eye of Kitty’s he could see opened slowly and shifted to look at him, otherwise not moving from her comfortable position hugging her knees.

“I - ah,” Kurt chuckled and shook his head to dislodge whatever dangerous thoughts were brewing. Taking baths used to be such a comforting, almost nurturing thing. “When I was young, Margali would put us all in the bath together, perhaps because it was easier to clean three kids at once. But she’d especially do it when we’d had a hard day, and she would rub my back like this.”

Kitty sighed, she didn’t quite have any memories like that. She loved her parents, and had a mostly good relationship with them, but they were not the physically affectionate types. “You and Stefan and uh, Jimaine?”

“Well… not so much Amanda, she was a little younger than us and Stefan and I would splash. We probably splashed Margali more times than not, but she would keep giving us the baths. I think… I think she knew that’s what we needed.”

Kitty tried not to think too much about Kurt’s ex adoptive sister, he seemed casual about the family connection but it made her a little uneasy. It was interesting Kurt was talking about his brother, he so rarely did. “You guys would all just get in together?” She smiled at him, closing her eyes again. “I never had any siblings. We never really did this.”

“Ja, Margali would always joke she wished she had a tail to help her. She used to rub soap on my shoulders then pour hot water over me again. Like this,” he set the loofa in the bath then cupped both hands under the water. Kurt poured the handful over one of Kitty’s shoulders, then repeated the process on her other shoulder. When the water pulled her hair back over her back, he absentmindedly pushed his nails over her shoulder blade to tuck the hair away again.

Kitty felt like jelly. The water was warm, the fire was hot, and she had this internal spot of warmth that was growing with every handful of water Kurt poured over her. She kept her eyes closed and pictured him in her minds eye, softly lit by the fire, his sleeves rolled up so as to not get his shirt wet, the front open so that she could just get a glimpse of his flat stomach.

She nearly started when she remembered he was actually not wearing a shirt at all, and had recently been robbed of half of his pants. The picture in her minds eye changed ever so subtly, and she could feel the ghostly memory of his hand gently stroking upward on her stomach. Kitty splashed her face with water, realizing this was not the time to get lost in her thoughts. He was still beside her, having picked up the loofa again.

“Kurt, didn’t you live in a caravan? How did you guys hook up running water?”

Kurt just continued to lazily rub her back with the loofa. “Mmm, nein, when I was really small it was a barrel we would pour hot water into, but when we were older it was an old water tank we could heat from the bottom. No running water, but if we weren’t camped near a source of water, there were always the water reservoirs that were part of the caravan. We’d just set it up near the hot water, usually a couple at a time. Margali was always able to go first, so we’d dry around the fire while others were bathing.”

Kitty could picture a young Kurt bundled up by the fire all too well, but not really the other people bathing in the background. “Wasn’t it strange to be… well, naked, around other people?”

Kurt tsked at her, but she could hear the smile in his tone of voice. “You are so American.”

That wasn’t really an answer but it did make her feel better about their current situation. The question made her re-realize her own state of undress in front of him, but somehow the urgency to change the situation just wasn’t there.

Instead she turned her face into her knees. “Thank you, Kurt. Really, sincerely. I didn’t know how bad I was feeling, only that I feel so much better now.”

Kurt felt a glow in him that he let spread from his core to his fingertips. He set down the loofa in the water and just rested his arms on the side. “Anything for you, Kätzchen.”

She laughed, and looked back over her shoulder at him. “I don’t think I’m up for lifting my arms to wash my hair. It’s your turn in the water.”

“I can help you wash your hair if you want?” It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He tried to calm his face so she didn’t see the spike of nervousness - it was the last thing he wanted to do, cross a boundary with her. Already they were playing with fire like this.

Kitty smiled over her shoulder at him and shook her head. “I’m pruning. That means it’s time to get out. But maybe next time.” Kitty thought she’d said it casually enough, but the electricity felt palpable.

Kurt’s face didn’t give away anything. He breathed so quietly under his breath, Kitty wasn’t quite sure she had heard him. “Maybe next time.”

Kurt stood, and turned to dry his hands as a way to give Kitty privacy. His pant was comically drooping, he held them in place with his tail as he fetched her a towel as well. Still facing away from her, he held out one of the fluffy white towels behind him and felt her take it. He felt one of her warm and wet hands take his to balance as she stood in the tub, his mind supplanting the image of her glistening in the firelight. He heard her step out and the towel shuffle as she started to dry herself.

And now, it was his turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to draw this out, these guys really needed a break.
> 
> Vihad/Vasta is a particular sauna massage that involves birch branches that apparently helps with circulation. I've always wanted to try it lol


End file.
